


Change Is Terrifying

by EmmaJMcGhee



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Romance, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-31 19:40:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 63
Words: 32,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3990331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaJMcGhee/pseuds/EmmaJMcGhee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kara Lynn Palamas and Grant Ward are trying to put themselves together after brainwashing and San Juan when an old face comes to them for help, running from S.H.I.E.L.D. and its bio-chemist, Agent Jemma Simmons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Friendly Banter

**Author's Note:**

> I know this isn't very long, but I'm doing this fic scene by scene, so the chapter lengths will vary a lot. Hope you enjoy!

"Kara, stop fussing." Grant Ward said, almost exasperated at her constant concern over her face. "You look fine."

"'Fine' is a relative term, Grant!" Kara Lynn Palamas replied, her voice rising to a shriek. "I have a scar that resembles Zuko!" Turning away from the mirror, she gestured wildly at it, but was met with the back half of Grant's body.

Grant rolled his eyes, safe because he wasn't facing her. "At least we can both relate to a cartoon character."

Pursing her lips, Kara gave the back of Grant's head an unimpressed look. "Amusing. And I know you rolled your eyes at me." She turned back to face the mirror, raised a hand to her face but held it there, seemingly afraid to touch it. "Do you think I could get this Agent Simmons to fix it? You said she's a genius."

"I doubt she'd help you." said a voice from the doorway, layered with exhaustion and despair. "She wouldn't even help me."

Both Kara and Grant's heads snapped up the second they heard it, their faces paling in shock and fear at the person now standing in front of them.


	2. Fear of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 87 hits? Not bad for my first fic on here :) Thanks to those who kudosed and bookmarked this!

Skye stood there, but it didn't look like Skye. Her usual perky manner seemed to have left no residue in its absence, leaving slumped shoulders, trembling legs and a droopy face devoid of any emotion considered remotely desirable. She wasn't just tired or desperate. She was  _defeated_. Absolutely haunted by whatever she was trying to leave behind her. Her hair's usual waves were scruffed and unkempt, the shine on them indicating she hadn't washed them in several days. The large, baggy ACDC shirt she was wearing was stained and torn, the rip resembling a scar. The skin underneath looked suspiciously in as bad a shape as the clothes covering it. Tatty jeans, two sizes too big hung off her hips, the shirt tucked behind the buckle of the belt used to hold them up and her feet were bare. A jacket was slung loosely over her shoulders but it was thin and floral, its brightness in stark contrast with her entire demeanour.

The shock and fear hovered on the friends' faces for a moment before the fear drained away, replaced with horrified concern. Kara spoke first, her gaze running over Skye's appearance.

"Skye, what happened to you?" Her voice held so much sorrow and disbelief at the state the younger woman was in. "Why aren't you with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Skye's empty eyes flicked upwards to look Kara in the face. A faint hint of life appeared at the rogue agent's words, but it was dread. Her mouth was dry, so she took a moment in an attempt to gulp, trying to sound clear when she spoke again. The shock and horror receded from Kara and Grant's faces as they waited patiently for Skye to answer.

"Ev-" her voice cracked and she coughed before trying again. "Everyone except Fitz."

Kara no longer held herself back, and rushed forward to envelope Skye into an embrace, not minding the built up body odour that clung to her. Hesitantly, Skye raised her arms to wrap them around Kara's torso and dropped her head onto the woman's shoulder.

With both women's attention diverted from him, Grant allowed the panic and helplessness he felt at seeing Skye's condition to blossom across his face.  _What the Hell did they put her through?!_

Releasing some of the pent-up emotion that had accumulated very quickly at Skye's sudden appearance at their motel room actually helped, and he felt more in control of the situation as he recomposed his expression.

Kara, oblivious to Grant's tumultuous emotional journey, squeezed Skye tenderly, rubbing her back to offer comfort. "Would you like to come in?" Skye sniffled and weakly nodded. "Okay." Kara pulled back a little, enough to look her in the eyes, and smiled. Skye gazed back, a hint of warmth seeping into her otherwise flat stare. "Come on. Let's get you a shower and some clean clothes. You need to sleep and I've found that showers relax me." She took another step back, grasped Skye's hand and gently tugged her through the door.

Grant walked backwards out of the way as Kara led Skye to the bed and sat her down on the edge of it.

"Grant!" Kara announced, turning to face him. "Could you go down to the main reception, please? We're gonna stay here for another night."

Although he was itching to ask why she was abandoning their mission, Grant knew that now wasn't the best time to bring it up. So he just rolled his eyes at Kara's overeager and commanding tone. "I don't follow orders, Kara. You know that." Nonetheless, the left the room to re-book their room.

Skye didn't raise her eyes from the floor when Grant spoke, but as soon as the door closed behind him, she muttered "That's new."

Kara looked back at her, her sympathetic smile going unseen. "Yeah. We've all changed."

Hidden by her down-turned face and long hair, Skye's eyes flickered with something very akin to hope.


	3. A Rogue's Kindness

Grant walked through the door of the motel room, seeing Skye still sitting on the end of the bed. Kara was seated next to her with her arms wrapped around the younger agent's shoulders. Low murmurings could be heard as Kara spoke softly, words of comfort leaving her lips. Grant cleared his throat, not wanting to intrude on a private moment, and both women's heads snapped up.

"I got you some stuff, Skye." Grant said, walking slowly towards her while holding the bag out to her.

Timidly, Skye reached out and took hold of the bags, her fingers slightly brushing Grant's as he released it. "Thank you." she whispered almost hoarsely. Grant nodded once in reply, but Skye wasn't looking.

"What did you get for her?" Kara asked curiously, phrasing her question carefully. Skye flinched and lowered the bag without even bothering to check the contents.

The muscles around Grant's eyes tightened in anger.  _Has Coulson been manipulating you?_  he wanted to ask, but instead answered Kara's query, hoping to add a semblance of normality to Skye's shaken up life. "Some shampoo and conditioner, face wash and soap. Enough to last a while...and some outfits."

A couple of heartbeats passed before Skye raised the bag up high enough to sit it on her lap and Grant let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. Kara shifted on her spot on the bed to give Skye a little more space as the woman pulled out a dark, knee-length dress with black lace around the hem and collar. Digging her hand into the neckline, she found the tag, claiming the dress as a product of Forever 21.  _He got me a new dress..._ she thought, somewhat astonished.

She glanced up at him, only to find that he was gazing down at her, a slightly hopeful smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. Quickly, she ducked her head, placed the dress to the side and rummaged around in the bag again. This time, she pulled out a modest cotton nightie. The word  _beauty_  was embroidered in cursive over the chest, and Skye nearly smiled.

Kara, meanwhile, smiled smugly when she saw the nightie and looked knowingly up at Grant. He shrugged in reply and Kara turned her focus back to Skye. "Do you want to have a shower now?"

Skye looked up from the nightie, where she was just staring at the word sewn onto the fabric, and nodded, then suddenly looked apprehensive. "Could you..." she didn't know how to ask.

"Help?" Kara continued. Skye nodded again. "Of course." Standing up, she took Skye's left hand in one of her own, and the bag of items in the other, leading her towards the small bathroom. "Do you want to keep those clothes?"

Skye shook her head, not saying anything.

"Okay." Kara glanced back at her with a comforting smile as they crossed the threshold into the bathroom. She closed the door behind them, but not before mouthing  _"You'll thank me later."_  to Grant.

He just heaved a sigh, not sure how he was feeling about all of this.

_How am I supposed to move on when she's here?_


	4. Bond Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 300+ hits! That's awesome, guys, thanks so much for your support!

Kara turned the shower on, then paused. “How hot do you want the water?” she asked Skye, who was standing in the middle of the bathroom, looking lost.

The woman jumped when Kara spoke and quickly tried to conceal her surprise. “Ah…” she took her time to consider it. _Hot would burn…Oh God, no, not hot!_ “Warm, please.” She finally answered in a small voice.

Kara gave yet another of her comforting smiles, the effect not at all marred by the scar on her face.

 _Yet another symbol of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s carelessness with others’ lives. As long as we aren’t dead, right?_ Skye thought sullenly as Kara brought down the temperature of the shower water.

“Water’s ready.” Kara said cheerfully as she turned back to face the younger woman. “Do you want me to leave while you take your clothes off?” She was already taking a step towards the door as she said this.

“No, it’s fine.” Skye answered her, starting to tug off the floral jacket, albeit with some difficulty. “Could you help? I’m so cold.”

“Of course.” Kara moved forwards to stand behind her and pulled the jacket off, tossing it to one side of the bathroom before helping Skye tug the ACDC shirt up and over her head. Once that had joined the jacket, Kara looked to see that Skye was braless as well. She frowned. “How long have you been going without a bra, Skye?”

“Um, about a week. Why?” Skye countered, unfazed by the usual issue of modesty around a woman she barely knew. She kept her back to her, however, and raised her voice a little to be heard more clearly.

“The breast tissue sags when left to hang.” Came the reply.

Skye’s brow scrunched a little. “How do you know that?” she asked as she undid the belt and let the jeans drop to the floor before stepping out of them.

“I’ve been remembering bits of my past with the original S.H.I.E.L.D. I’ll tell you after you’ve washed and slept, and we have time to talk. For now, though,” she moved past Skye to check that the water was still at the right temperature. “In you g…”

She’d turned back around to look at Skye face on, and her jaw dropped in horror at what she saw. “Skye.” She breathed, glancing up at the woman’s apologetic face. “What the hell happened?”


	5. Skye's Scar-To-Be

Skye looked down at her body and back up at Kara. "I'm sorry."

Kara shook her head. "Skye, you have nothing to be sorry for. Why are you apologising?"

Skye's jaw worked as though she was going to say something, but before she could, a knocking cut through the verbal silence.

"Kara? Skye? What's happened? What's going on?" Grant's voice could be heard through the door, sounding more panicked with every word he uttered.

Quickly, Kara moved to place a hand to the door in case he tried to come in without being allowed. Looking at Skye, she gave her a questioning look and mouthed  _Do you want him to know?_

The younger woman flicked her eyes away.

 _He's gonna find out sooner or later._  A tiny voice in the back of her mind piped up.

 _I'd rather it be later._  A larger part of her replied firmly.

 _Think about it, he's already worried about you._ The tiny voice countered smugly.  _And you're arguing with yourself._

Skye sighed. She was really going to have to work on her indecisiveness.

"He doesn't have to, you know." Kara pulled Skye from her thoughts. "We can keep this between us."

"I don't have to what? Kara, it better not be serious!" Grant tried rattling the doorknob, but Kara was holding it tightly.

His concern solidified Skye's decision. "Let him in." she said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

Skye nodded. Kara opened the door a crack and began speaking to Grant in low tones, their voices too hushed to be heard clearly. Not that Skye was trying.

"Skye?" Grant said softly, stepping into the bathroom, his eyes widening as he saw what had caused Kara to be so shocked. "Jesus, Skye. Who did this to you?"

Skye's torso had a nasty long cut that stretched from the ribcage under her left breast to her right hipbone. It didn't look fresh, and the wound was stitched but poorly done. Blood seemed to have oozed out and dried in clots or tracks on her skin, and the entire area was inflamed.

Kara's eyes flicked to look at the inside of Skye's elbows and saw that the veins that usually have a blue hue were bright red, and webbed their way along the skin more than normal.  _How did I not notice that before?_  she scolded herself.

Skye let out a half-hearted huff of amusement. "Technically, I guess I did."

Grant and Kara raised their eyebrows in disbelief.

"It was an accident, anyway." Skye continued to mumble.

Her face creased in sympathy, Kara moved to turn the shower off and closed the glass door. At the questioning looks of the other two, she explained. "We need to get that cut disinfected and sewn up properly before we do anything else." Grant nodded and exited the room, leaving the door open behind him. "As for getting you clean," she continued to Skye. "I think a sponge bath is in order. It'll be gentler on your skin and we need to be careful not to get any more gunk in that wound." She gestured with her head towards the discussed mark.

"Okay." Skye managed to say, wrestling with her disappointment. It must've shown on her face, because Kara was suddenly standing in front of her.

"Skye, please don't think that we're horrified because we think less of you. We're horrified because whoever caused this to happen to you just left you to suffer it."

When Skye merely shifted on the spot, her gaze cast downwards, she tried again.

"Skye, look at me."

A pair of haunted brown eyes raised themselves to hers.

"You know who gave me this scar?"

"May."

"May." Kara agreed. "She knew I was brainwashed, and she didn't care. Not then, not now. You know what Whitehall did when the Hydra soldiers brought Bakshi and I back?"

Skye shook her head, too appalled at Kara's mistreatment to speak.

"Nothing. Told me I should've done better. That I deserved what I got for my failure."

"That's..." Skye searched for the word. "Awful."

"Yeah. And I believed him. I punished myself. But the only person who cared about me, who wanted to  _help_  me...was Grant. He didn't care about my scar, but not like May and Whitehall. He isn't cruel."

"He accepted you as a person." Skye whispered.

"Scar and all."

"I've got med supplies." Grant called from the main room.

"Come on. Let's go get you healed." Kara said, moving to the open door.


	6. Re-kindling Relationships

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 460 notes! Great to see so many of you enjoy this :)

Grant sat on the floor, his back resting against the end of the double bed, and his lap occupied by Skye’s head. Her body lay draped across the floor to his right at an acute angle to his legs, and she was almost entirely naked, except for the too-small pair of panties she had nabbed a couple of days ago. Neither specialist would have minded her exposed breasts, but Skye felt more comfortable covering the nipples with her arms. As a bonus, it allowed for easier access to the wound.

Kara had insisted on unstitching, cleaning and re-sewing the semi-deep trench in Skye’s abdomen as soon as she had left the bathroom, claiming that she had more experience and smaller hands. However, Grant suspected that it was a ruse to get him and Skye in a more intimate position. Not that her points weren’t valid.

“Ow.” Skye moaned in pain, so quietly he almost missed it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any morphine in the medical supplies, so Kara had to be extra careful not to cause more pain than necessary.

Instinctively, Grant raised a hand to gently stroke Skye’s left cheek with his right hand, his thumb brushing stray hairs out of her face. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she clamped her jaw shut, the occasional whimper escaping her lips. The sound of her misery made Grant’s chest tighten, restricting his breathing to short huffs.

Immediately, Skye’s watery orbs connected with his, guilt and anguish seeming to override her torment. _Oh._ She thought he was angry. Righting his breathing pattern, he smiled down at her, offering what little comfort he could give. “It’ll be alright, Skye.” He found himself saying softly. “It’ll take time, but it’ll be alright.”

Skye’s gaze softened, gratitude joining the mix of emotions. A spasm of agony flickered across her face as Kara tugged at the thread, closing the cut a little more. Grant tilted his head towards Kara, giving her a look that very plainly said _Take it easy, would you!_ Kara paused in her work for a second to flick an annoyed look back at him, as though she knew what he would do.

“I’m halfway, Skye.” She said gently, glancing over to see Skye nod once, sharply and with a partially-resigned expression. She made eye contact with Grant, worried.

“You’re doing so well, Skye.” He had taken the hint, and turned his focus back to the woman in his lap. “Once this is done, you’ll heal properly and it’ll never bother you again.” He was basically reiterating what he had said moments before, but he needed to say something that sounded supportive, and he wasn’t exactly an expert in the area. His thumb slowly rubbed the side of her head, going from her temple to as far as he could stretch it.

Skye watched him, eyes dancing all over his face, drinking in every detail. Then, as though the move was cautiously calculated, her left arm lifted from her breasts and the hand came to rest on Grant’s. Tenderly, almost awkwardly, she slid her fingers in between his and Grant lifted his fingers to accommodate that. Her eyes now having had their fill looked directly into his, and the small smile that fit Grant’s face so beautifully incited a little twitch at the corner of Skye’s mouth.

Hope glimmered in Grant’s eyes as he noticed this, and his smile grew a little wider.

Kara looked up for a moment, as she hadn’t heard so much a tiny squeak from Skye for the past couple of minutes, and saw the tender scene. She smiled, half smugly, half awed. She took a deep, but silent breath and concentrated on finishing the task at hand, which was just about completed.

The three continued in this way for the next several minutes. Grant smiled down at Skye and murmured sweet words of comfort. Skye focused on Grant, her little kindling of hope that these people would accept her for who she is, scars and all, sparking to life. Kara finished sewing the wound edges together and carefully added a cream to the pink line across Skye’s belly.

Sitting back and leaning on her hands after cleaning up, Kara wanted to leave the love-struck pair to their bubble of bliss, but knew that Skye was going to conk out from exhaustion soon. She cleared her throat, and both startled pairs of eyes looked over to her.

“Sorry to disturb you, but Skye needs to wash and then sleep.” Kara pointed out with a smirk.

Grant and Skye gazed back at each other, a slight hint of a blush on each of their cheeks. Glancing away, Skye tried to sit up, but found that the movement was stiff and painful. Hurriedly, Grant pushed her up before standing and helping her to her feet. Gingerly, Skye felt the area around her mark and looked up at Kara, who had also risen to her feet.

“How long will it take for this to heal?” she asked, sounding a little fearful.

“I’ll leave the stitches in for two weeks. We may have to see a doctor to take them out, I don’t want to rupture anything.” Kara replied, moving forward to rub Skye’s upper arm.

“After that, it’ll be some weeks before it stops hurting constantly. The scar will fade with time.” Grant added with no hint of malice, yet Skye still winced.

“I’m sorry.” She brokenly whispered, her gaze cast at the floor.

She heard Grant sigh and felt Kara’s hand drop from her arm, and knew that she’d broached a topic that wasn’t ready to be discussed, but she couldn’t and wouldn’t take back her words.

“We’ll talk about that some other time, Skye.” He said gently after a stressed silence, then walked away.

“You ready for a wash? Second time’s a charm.” Kara said with a pleasant tone.

Skye’s right arm was still firmly held around her breasts, and she dropped it as she nodded. “I’m beat.”

Over in the corner where he had secluded himself after Skye’s abrupt subject change, Grant’s breath hitched as the memory from the Dublin hotel bar flashed before his eyes.

_I’ll make the right choice this time._


	7. The Usual Barriers

“Kara?” Skye asked as the woman in question rubbed a soaped up sponge over her back.

“Yes?”

Skye opened her mouth to speak again but hesitated. Kara sensed her uncertainty was due to Grant’s abrupt dismissal of her apology from earlier.

“Whenever you’re ready, Skye.” She encouraged.

Another few moments went by before Skye tried to speak again.

“Do you think that…that Grant will forgive me?” she mumbled in a small voice.

Kara paused in her scrubbing of Skye’s left shoulder, wondering how to approach what she knew to be a sensitive subject. Not only for Grant, by evidently for Skye as well.

“From what I saw out there earlier,” she began. “I think that you absolutely have a chance to earn his forgiveness, just as much as he does of earning yours.”

“What makes you think I haven’t forgiven him?”

“Neither one of you has taken up the chance to sit down and hash out what sits between you. I know you were furious at him for his betrayal of your team and your heart, and that anger flowed through into San Juan.”

“He chose Garrett over us.” The younger woman sulkily accused.

“I think you see my point. You haven’t been in a good position to forgive him for months, and he you for weeks.” Kara finished soaping Skye’s left arm and moved to sit in front of her. “But listen to me. The two of you now have an opportunity to fix this. Share absolutely everything about yourselves.”

“What would that do?”

“You would know each other for who you truly are. In my opinion, that’s the best place from which to start a life with someone.” She leaned over to reach the soap and lathered up the sponge again. “I didn’t know the Grant Ward that you fell for and May can’t cope with. But the Grant Ward of today? He’s not so bad.” The comforting smile was once again in place, and Skye felt tempted to return it, but was unsure at what point she should stop letting this woman in.

Taking the sponge from Kara, Skye started to scrub her chest and belly, circling slowly so as to avoid the redness that was thankfully starting to recede.

After she was dirt-free and dressed in the nightie that Grant had gotten for her, Skye stepped out into the main room. Grant was sitting at the small table reading a novel and raised his gaze to look at her.

“How do you feel?” he asked politely.

Skye glanced at the floor and made herself look back up to avoid showing signs of weakness. “Cleaner.” She stated with a conviction she didn’t really feel.

Kara and Grant looked at each other, worry etched clearly on their features.

“I want to sleep now.” Skye continued, her previously open and vulnerable air covered up as her S.H.I.E.L.D. training kicked in.

Kara gestured to the queen double. “Bed’s all yours.”

Without waiting for anyone else to say anything, Skye marched over, pulled back the covers and tucked herself in, burrowing her face into the pillow so they didn’t see her tears.


	8. Platonic Vs Romantic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yesterday was my birthday, and I was rather busy so sorry for not updating! Hopefully you guys like this chapter :)

Skye lay in a restless sleep, tossing and turning, yet always curled up in a tight ball. Grant sat in one of the few chairs in the room, worry slowly morphing into panic with each breathless pant of fear that Skye uttered. Trying to ease the feeling of helplessness that came with it, he refocused on the woman in the other seat, who was switching her gaze from one person to the next.

“Why did you tell her that there may be a chance for us?” he said, his voice hoarse with his distress.

Kara fixed her gaze on him, and tilted her head to the side, contemplating how to answer. “Because I believe so.” She said simply.

Grant bounced his right leg in irritation, jaw clenching as he looked away and back again. “Why?” he demanded after a few moments. _“How?”_

“Grant, everyone knows that you love her. Some may believe that you only think so and that this is all some crazy obsession, but…” she paused, half for effect and half to give him time to calmly process what she was doing. “I saw the way you looked at her in San Juan. Both before and after Raina dropped that bombshell, you just–”

“Had no reason to hide it anymore.” Grant finished with a scoff. “Yeah, I did love her.”

“Did?”

He gave her a flat stare. “I tried to help her, and she almost literally shot me in the back. Not really much of an incentive to keep going after that.”

Kara’s expression showed she wasn’t in the mood for sullen declarations of mistrust. “Grant, how did you feel about Skye when you chose Garrett over her? And the team?”

“I don’t want to go into det–”

“Answer me.” She bit out, almost harshly. Grant glared, and refused. Sighing in angry frustration, she leaned forward. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to you ramble on about how she abused your trust when she had given you no reason to do so for _months_ while you were in that vault. You broke her heart when she found out, and by doing so, broke the trust she had for you. Before that, had you given her any reason for her not to trust you? That she knew about, Grant. Don’t give me that look.” She quickly added as he opened his mouth. “You asked me why I thought that you two need to give each other a chance, and I’m trying to give you the best possible answer that I can.”

“You’ve come out of your brainwashing pretty well.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Grant swallowed. “I don’t know how I felt.” Kara raised her eyebrows. “It’s wasn’t something I tried to delve into, it could’ve made Skye more of a target. Compromising my ability to do my job.”

Keeping her eyes locked with his, Kara tilted her head forward. _Go on,_ she seemed to say.

“Okay, maybe I loved her then as well.”

A smug smirk settling onto her face, Kara sat back and looked back to Skye, who had gone quite still.

“With what you said, before we nabbed Bakshi,” Grant started again. “Do you no longer want that?” He wasn’t looking at her, as though afraid of what her answer would be.

“I don’t think that us being together in that context is going to be of any benefit to either of us.” Kara replied after some thought. “You were the first person to treat me like a human being in a long time, and I jumped for something I craved. Plus, you were still reeling after San Juan, so I think that’s why you said that it was a possibility.” She shook her head. “But at the end of the day, you love her, not me. And she’s the one who loves you, not me.”

“She loves me?” he nearly whispered, bemused.

“She wouldn’t have fallen in love with you after your betrayal.” Kara explained, raising her pointer finger in the air. “She wouldn’t have fallen for you in the months since San Juan.” She raised her thumb next. “I mean, look at her. She fucking _broken_. The only possible reason for her to have gone searching for you when she has no hope, is that she has one last powerful motivator left.”

“Love.”

“Love.” Kara agreed.

“You have an uncanny knack for understanding people, you know that?” Grant said after a heartbeat, not denying the half amused smile that appeared.

Kara let out a short laugh. “Have you forgotten already? No one who is no longer in love with the person who’s hurt them as badly as you have each other, displays the kind of behaviour that I witnessed only half an hour ago.”

Before Grant could answer, Skye scrambled off the bed in a wild panic, screaming herself to consciousness.


	9. Skye's Nightmare

Grant jumped to his feet, immediately making his way over to the terrified woman. What he didn’t expect was her reaction.

“NO! KEEP AWAY FROM ME!” Skye screamed, straining to get further away from both Grant and Kara. The wild, panicked look in her eyes as she glanced between the two confused and worried faces in front of her kept the specialists at bay.

“Skye–” Grant began gently, reaching forwards with his right hand. Skye’s bottom lip was trembling as she looked at his hand and back up at him, repulsion and fear rife in her gaze.

“No! You’re only here to finish me off! You’re working with Simmons!” she cried.

“Simmons?” Kara echoed, utterly lost by Skye’s outburst. She shared a horrified look with Grant as they contemplated the horrors that the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist had put Skye through. “Skye, I’ve never even met her!”

“And I haven’t seen her since she threatened to kill me.” Grant added calmly.

Looking more panicked than ever, Skye’s hand crept up to hold the sides of her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. “But-but you _did_. You…you had syringes and were glaring and–” she broke herself off to take a shuddery breath, barely taking in the shocked and concerned faces that were slowly coming into better focus. “And you,” she looked right at Grant now. “You don’t love me! You said you didn’t! I-I…” she seemed unable to finish her sentence, shaking her head.

“Skye. Listen to me.” Grant commanded, but kept his voice soft. “I never said I didn’t love you. You were having a nightmare. You were thrashing in your bed.”

“T-then why didn’t you wake me?” Skye sobbed, nearly in hysterics.

“You needed to sleep. You still do.” Grant’s imploring look became the focal point for Skye to calm down. Slowly, her hands dancing back upwards every so often, she lowered her arms.

“I was dreaming…” she whispered, the wild look taming somewhat, but still lurking in the shadows.

“That’s right, Skye.” Grant whispered back.

“It wasn’t real.”

“No, it wasn’t real.” Grant smiled a little, still haunted by whatever monster Jemma Simmons had created to destroy this woman.

“Do–” she began, then stopped. “Can I get a hug?”

“Of course you can, Skye.” Grant moved forwards again, but slowly this time. Taking hold of her hands, he gently pulled Skye to her feet and tucked her in against his body. She collapsed into his embrace, her body shaking and Grant instinctively held her tighter. “Do you want to try sleeping again?”

“No.” The single word, filled with every meaning of dread, rattled around in Grant’s head.

“I’ll be right there with you. I’ll protect you. Will you be okay with that?”

After Skye nodded, not looking up, Grant swept his left arm under her legs to carry her bridal style. Striding to the bed, he pulled off his shoes using the heel-toe method and laid her down carefully, following suit. As soon as he was settled with his back on the mattress, Skye snuggled into his side, her breathing evening out quickly as she drifted off to sleep.


	10. Stubbornness & Determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, 10 chapters in and with 830+ hits! :3

Kara sat on the remaining space on the bed, one leg tucked under her and the other dangling off the side. Skye was sleeping peacefully now, something which she doesn’t seem to have had much of recently, and Grant’s brows appeared to be permanently creased together.

“Grant.” She said softly, gaining his attention. “Relax.”

He looked at her as though she’d gone slightly mad. “Relax?” he glanced down at Skye’s sleeping form and back up at Kara, a hint of anger entering his gaze. “How can I relax when S.H.I.E.L.D. has put yet another person through hell?”

Kara remained calm, knowing that if she allowed herself to retort, the situation would only escalate. “She’s asleep. Being tense now isn’t going to help anyone, especially her.”

“We don’t even know what Simmons did to her!”

“Exactly. And we won’t know until she tells us. So try calming down and going to sleep. You’ll need to be patient until she’s ready.”

Grant furiously made eye contact with Kara, glaring at her unwillingness to budge with her opinion. Eventually he dropped his gaze to Skye with a loud sigh. “Sorry. You’re right, it’s just…”

“Your protective streak.” Kara replied, nodding. “I know. But there’s a time and place for stressing out over someone, and it most certainly is not when they’re stressing out themselves.”

His face crumpled, expressing just how lost and helpless he felt. “I don’t know what to do.” He said quietly.

“Hey.” Kara whispered, leaning over and grasping his hand firmly. She waited for him to look at her before continuing. “You were there for me when I didn’t know what to do. Now neither you nor Skye know what to with yourselves and each other. So I’m gonna be here for the both of you.” She got a small but grateful smile in return, and she released his hand. “Go to sleep. You may not have much of a chance to get rest when we leave.”

Grant nodded and readjusted his position on the bed, shifting further down and letting his head lean towards Skye’s. After a moment, his eyes flickered open as a thought came to him. “Kara, why were you so quick to drop the mission we had?”

Kara, who had stood up to make a hot drink, turned around. “Because I saw she was as broken, if not more, than I was when I found you.” She gave him a half-smile. “You’re a safe haven, Grant. You’re only just starting to realise that.” She pivoted towards the kitchenette bench before she said any more.

“That’s it?” Grant asked, causing Kara to pause as she picked up a mug.

She sighed. “No one deserves to be left to deal with things alone, even if the people helping them aren’t entirely whole themselves.”

A few minutes of silence followed her statement, and Kara had half-expected Grant to be asleep when she heard him speak again.

“God, if you’d run S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra would never have gotten a foothold.”

Determination sparked in Kara’s mind. Agent Skye will not be the only one she would help.


	11. Morning Glory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, it's not very long. But it's a cute bit of fluff that I think a number of us need :)

Skye woke up gradually, slowly gaining awareness of her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she was warm. She put that down to the bed she was in. The second was how rested she felt. Again, she put that down to the bed. The third was that she noticed how relaxed she was. _Strange_. No bed had ever done that to her before.

Pushing that thought to the back of her mind until she was fully awake and able to think it through, she tried stretching, only to find that she was quite firmly restricted. Panic rose within her like a tsunami and she froze. _Simmons! How did she find me?!_

These thoughts were very quickly forgotten as her restraints moved. Her breathing picked up its pace, Skye looked upwards and sighed in enormous relief when she recognised the face of the man sleeping beside her. Or rather, _around_ her.

Grant Ward had his arms wrapped around Skye’s body and his left leg was hooked round both of hers. His face held the most peace that Skye had ever seen on it. She wondered if that was because of her. It most certainly seemed be the explanation in vice versa.

Skye lay in Grant’s embrace, enjoying the feeling of safety that was so rare these days. Content to just gaze at his face, began to think that maybe Kara was right, maybe they could forgive each other. In any case, the love was reciprocated on both ends.

Eventually, Grant stirred, his grip tightening momentarily. Blinking a few times, he found most of his view was taken up by Skye’s face. She wasn’t smiling, as seemed her MO lately, but her gaze was soft and tentatively trusting.

“Is this is part where I say ‘morning’?” he asked, his voice husky with the dregs of sleep. Warm amusement flickered in Skye’s eyes, accompanied by a hint of lust. Grant took particular notice to the second emotion, and tamped down his own horny beast. _Now is definitely not the time for that._ For one thing, Kara was still in the room.

“It would be if it was morning.” Skye replied, the faint twitch of her lips adding to the evidence of how much happier she seemed to be.

Grant smiled, happily getting lost in her eyes. The two of them remained locked in this moment of bliss for several minutes before the yawning sounds emanating from behind Skye told them that Kara was awakening.


	12. Game Changer

Grant looked over Skye’s head at Kara, breaking the moment. Skye inwardly sighed and rolled over to look at the other woman as well, Grant's arms slipping off easily.

Kara sat up and stretched, taking a few moments before noticing that she had an audience. “Did you guys get it on while I was asleep, or were you waiting for me to leave first?”

Skye and Grant looked at each other. “Ah…” Skye started, fumbling for words.

“Oh, relax. I’m teasing.” Kara said with a laugh as she stood up. “What’s the time?”

Grant rolled over onto his back, reaching awkwardly for the alarm clock next to the bed. “Just after 2 o’clock.”

“Perfect. We can discuss where we’re going to go when we leave tomorrow.” Kara wandered to the kitchenette bench, picking up her phone and smiling as the screen showed.

“That depends on what else we’re going to do.” Grant said as he and Skye sat up, the former bending down to pick up his shoes.

Skye had noticed the involuntary smile that Kara had donned, and cocked her head to the side in curiosity. “Kara, why are you smiling like that?” her initial question caused Kara to look up, the smile still in place. Skye leaned forward almost eagerly. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Grant let out a loud snort. “Ooh, gossip.” He said sarcastically, not even bothering to look up from where he was tying his left shoe. Skye pouted at him, then gave him a push, sending him to the floor while he was still doubled over. Kara cracked up laughing and even Skye let out a little giggle, keeping her gaze on her former S.O. in case she had taken it too far. Both Kara and Grant had noticed, but decided not to comment on it as though it was some sort of abnormality.

“Thanks, Skye.” He said, laughing as well. His eyes twinkled with delight at Skye’s happiness, even if it was such a minor thing.

The relief in her eyes was palpable, and she gave him a small smile.

Kara was already getting used to falling into the third wheel category, and internally _awwed_ at the scene in front of her. She looked back down at her phone, smirking again, and unlocked the screen. Immediately, a message came up, the phone buzzing with the _Jingle Bells_ tune. Skye and Grant’s heads snapped up, the former showing curiosity while the latter became very serious.

“Is that Bakshi?” he asked, reaching for his other shoe.

“Yeah.” Kara replied, noticing Skye’s look of confusion and wariness. “He says he’s done the next task.”

Grant paused, then nodded and finished tying his shoe. Standing up, he made his way over to her. “Tell him to move to the safe house.” When Kara nodded and speed typed in her reply, Skye got up off the bed and tentatively took a few steps in their direction.

“What’s going on?”


	13. Decisions

Kara paused in her task, quickly finished her text, and placed the phone back in her pocket. Skye was waiting in front of her patiently.

“Sunil Bakshi is making amends for his…multitudes of wrong doings.” She answered carefully after a few moments. She didn’t want Skye to freak out so soon after joining them, and felt the wary stare Grant was sending her way.

“What…” confused, Skye looked around for Grant. She looked back when she got no answer from him. “What are you making him do?”

“It depends on what it is he’s making amends for.” Kara replied. “For example, for what he did to me, I made him experience the brainwashing he caused me to suffer.” She shrugged. “It made it easier for him to agree to what he’s doing now.”

Skye wasn’t sure what to think. Should she trust that Kara knew what she was doing, and doing it for the greater good? Or should she come up with her own opinion? Figuring that unlike S.H.I.E.L.D., Kara and Grant wouldn’t shut down differing perspectives to their own, she chose the second option.

“What did he do?” she asked, dreading the answer.

Kara took a deep breath. “Bakshi was the one who dragged me from my safe house and brought me to Whitehall.”

Skye’s face was a mixture of horror, sympathy and anguish. “Oh my god.” She whispered.

“We’re all trying to fix what we damaged, Skye.” Grant spoke up from behind her. She whirled around, tears starting to fall from her eyes. “Some just need more of a push than others.”

Skye nodded slowly, swallowing the lump that had appeared in her throat. “How can I help?”

Grant smiled, adoration filling his gaze. “Stay with us?” he asked, almost stuttering as he got the words out.

Her bottom lip trembling, she nodded again. Skye didn’t hold Grant’s gaze for long as she looked around for Kara. Reaching for the other woman’s wrist, she grabbed hold and dragged her over to where Grant was standing, looking very confused.

“What are you–” he started to say before the woman collided with him. Skye wrapped her arms round both Kara and Grant and squeezed.

“Group hug.” She replied, snuggling her face in between them. They laughed softly and consented, snaking their own arms around each other and Skye. Grant pressed a kiss to the top of Skye’s head before resting his cheek on the same spot, feeling Skye rub his back gently in response. “So what are we gonna do now?”

The other two laughed louder this time as they pulled apart.

“Well, we just sent Bakshi to the safe house, so maybe check in with him?” Kara suggested. She received carefully considered nods in return, Skye more wary but trying to be more understanding about who these people were trying to become.


	14. A Step Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so sorry for the late update! I'll be adding another chapter right after this, so bonus! :)

Skye sat in the back seat of the black sedan, going over in her mind how she felt about the situation she had found herself in. Grant was driving while Kara was in the front passenger seat, giving him directions. The whole journey so far had felt…like home. Like a family, like she belonged. And she was terrified that it would be shattered yet again.

“How much further do we have to go?” she asked timidly as there was a lull in their conversation. Grant glanced back at her in the rear view mirror and Kara turned around to face her, both smiling softly.

“It’s a basement apartment in the next state over.” The latter replied, checking on her map and pointing to the left side of the state of Missouri.

“So another day, maybe two.” Grant said, supplying the estimated time of arrival. Skye nodded and curled up on her seat, the consistency of the car’s movement lulling her into an uneasy sleep.

_Flashes of The Playground’s laboratory. Fitz, looking concerned and yet afraid of what she could now do. Simmons, a disturbing lack of empathy on her face, holding a large syringe in her left hand. A few other scientists standing by, ready to record results. Like she was some test animal._

_Like they were Whitehall, and she was her mother._

_“No!” she pleaded, tears streaming down her face as she fought with the soldiers under Coulson’s command. “Jemma, please! Don’t do this!” Her voice rose several octaves, the shrillness blending into a scream. “Fitz, stop her, please!” Despite her attempts to get free, and the violent tremors that shook the base, the men holding on to her strapped her onto a table. Her hands and feet were bound, and the only part of her body that she could move to any reasonable degree was her head._

_“Skye, you need to relax, or you’re going to be in more pain.” Simmons said coolly, professionally. As though Skye was just another patient, and someone that she didn’t know. Skye didn’t know this Simmons._

_“Why?” she breathed out, sobs wracking her body. “Why are you doing this?”_

_“Skye–”_

“Skye!”

She jolted awake, holding her head tightly between her hands. All at once, she took notice of her surroundings. There were tear tracks on her face, water still streaming down them. The car was no longer moving, at least not of its own volition. The ground and everything on it was trembling, the ferocity matching her racing heartbeat. She was still in the car, as were Kara and Grant. However Grant had now moved to the back seat of the sedan, holding on to her tightly. The gasping breaths she took alongside the panicked looks that she swept over the area, alerted the others to her return to consciousness.

“Skye? You’re okay, you’ll be okay. It was just a dream.” Grant murmured reassuringly into her ear. “It was just a dream, it wasn’t real.”

“B-but it _was_.” Skye sobbed out, still grasping her head as though it would shatter if she let go. “It _was_ real. It _happened_ …and it’s my fault!”

“Skye, regardless of what you’ve done, no one retains the right to make you suffer what you have.” Kara stated firmly. “To make you scream and relive your torture in your sleep is more than cruel, it’s inhumane. This is _not_ your fault.”

Skye blinked up at her, still crying, but the quakes around her subsiding. Grant rubbed her back and side, pressing kisses to her hair.

“What have they done to you?” he whispered. “How dare they?”


	15. Peaceful Anger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, it's not very long. But I'll update early tomorrow!

Grant felt Skye drift back off to sleep, her hands now in her lap and her fingers entwined with his. The muscles in his jaw jumped as he tensed them over and over again, struggling to keep the violent urges of the Berserker rage at bay. _How dare they? How dare they hurt her? I’ll show the world what they are._

A tissue was unceremoniously shoved into his line of vision. He looked up to see Kara waving the tissue in front of his face, her smile one of sympathy. A hint of amusement coloured her gaze as his face showed confusion.

“You’re eyes are leaking, Grant.” She said, trying to ease the mood of the car.

“What?” He raised a hand to his face, Skye letting out a muffled complaint as he disentangled his fingers from hers. His touched his cheek and came away wet. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Come here.” Kara leaned forward and wiped the tears away. Grant relinked his fingers with Skye’s, resting his head on hers. “You want me to drive?”

“Mm.” was the reply, the man’s eyes drifting shut.

Kara smiled. “Well, buckle up. I’m not the world’s safest driver.” A faint snort of amusement emanated from the back seat as Kara turned back around and opened the car door. “Great. It’s raining.” She missed Grant’s chuckle as she got out of the car, and by the time she had settled herself into the driver’s seat, Grant had followed Skye into sleep.

Smirking, she raised her phone and snapped a picture. _Another addition to my Reconciliation Scrapbook._ Quickly typing in the date and situation, she slipped the phone into one of the cup holders and carefully pulled the car back onto the road.


	16. Bakshi's Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised I'd update quickly! This scene's a longer one :)

Kara woke to gentle shaking.

“Kara. You need to wake up, we’re here.” Grant’s voice drifted in through the hazy cloud that sleep often left behind. The sound of a car door opening made her open her eyes, just in time to see Grant slip out of the driver’s seat. A knock on hers made her turn around and she stiffened when she saw the man outside.

“Kara. Welcome back.” Sunil Bakshi greeted. “You’ll be pleased to know that I have completed the task you asked of me, and have more information to assist you further.”

Kara reined her revulsion in. Whatever horrors this man had unleashed onto the innocent, he was proving useful under the brainwashing. And she intended to stick to what she had said to Skye. _I will not be cruel._ She nodded and Bakshi moved away to stand between the entrance to the basement and the car.

She sat up straighter and looked around. The sky was overcast, and the Skye in the backseat was equally drowsy.

“’M tired.” She moaned. Grant reached around her to unbuckle her seatbelt and Skye clung onto his arm.

“Skye.” He laughed. “Come on, you have to get up.”

“No.” she sounded like a stubborn child. Grant heaved a sigh, and slid his arms under her legs and behind her back to lift her.

“You’re already whipped, you know that?” Kara observed from the front passenger seat, where she hadn’t moved.

“You say that like it’s a problem.” He quipped back as he carefully backed out of the sedan and straightened up. “Out you get, I’m not carrying you in as well.”

Kara just laughed, released the latch on her seatbelt and hopped out, shutting the car door firmly. Breezing past Bakshi, she simply said, “Make sure the car’s secure.”

“Yes, of course.” He replied in his irritating voice. Fighting back the urge to smash his face into the pavement, she hurried down the stairs to find Grant laying Skye down on the double bed.

“How much more rest do you think she needs?” she asked as she walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer. “You want one?”

“No thanks.” He answered, sitting down next to Skye. “She’s been drowsy for hours though. Is that okay?” his voice was starting to tremble with his concern.

“She’s healing.” Kara moved over to them. “And she’s been struggling to heal properly for a week before she found us. Add to that the hiding and running from S.H.I.E.L.D.” Grant nodded and ducked his head. “You should sleep as well. I’ll go over the details with Bakshi tonight and give them to you in the morning, okay?”

“’Mkay.” He got up and started pulling off his outer layers of clothing. Kara left him to it, wandering back towards the table as Bakshi entered the main room.

“The car’s secured.” He said. “I’ve stashed the information for safe keeping. I’ll go get it now.” He walked around a corner beyond the bed space. While Grant was otherwise occupied with getting some much needed rest, Kara snapped another picture of him shirtless by the bed. Bakshi returned with a file in his hands, and an air of success about him. “Are you going to go over what I’ve retrieved, Agent Ward?”

“No, I’ll do that in the morning, Bakshi.” Grant slid under the covers and pulled Skye over to him, and she instantly curled into his side.

Bakshi nodded and looked to Kara, who was just putting away her phone. Raising his eyebrows at her, he received a shake of her head in return. Striding over to where she stood by the table, he handed her the file. “Another five people taken to undergo the Faustus Method in the past month.” He said gravely. “Hydra’s getting desperate.”

“And the latest recoveree?” she asked, hoping it was good news.

“With her family in East London. MI6 has been alerted to what she has undergone, and are keeping tabs on her. She’ll be safe.”

Kara looked up at him, delighted. “Excellent work, Bakshi.” Her praise elicited a wide smile from the former Hydra employee. “This is much better than what S.H.I.E.L.D. has tried to do. Thank you.”

“I’m happy to comply.”


	17. Morning Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter feels a bit weird...let me know what you think!

Skye woke with a gasp and an automatic reaction of trying to scramble away. Grants arms around her waist prevented her from getting too far, but the silent, warm strength in them offered her the comfort she needed. She slowly regulated her breathing, calming her racing heart as she tried to make out Grant’s face in the dim pre-dawn light, streaming through the uncovered window that bordered the ceiling.

“Grant.” She hissed, keeping her voice low so as not to wake Kara and Bakshi. “Grant. Wake up.” Getting no more of a response than a faint hum, Skye tried shaking him, some of her insecurities leaking through into her voice. “Grant, please. Wake up.”

That finally seemed to beget a decent response. Grant shifted and his eyelids fluttered, a low groan escaping his lips. An urge came over Skye that she couldn’t quite quell, and biting her bottom lip, she traced the first two fingers of her left hand over Grant’s lips. His eyes opened now, and Skye’s gaze flicked up quickly to meet his.

“Skye?” he asked throatily, his voice husky with the dregs of sleep. Skye thought that she found the sound much more attractive than she needed to. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She answered slowly after a beat, looking down at her hands, which were now entwined. “It’s just…” she trailed off with a sigh.

“Bad dream?” he asked quietly, like he even knew what it was about. Skye nodded without meeting his gaze, instead feeling it roaming over her face, as though it were searching for answers. When several moments went by without her giving much more of an answer, he thought he’d breach the subject. “Do you want to talk about it?” Skye’s gaze drifted upwards a little, and then she shook her head. Grant closed his eyes and pursed his lips, frustrated at the lack of information she was giving him to help her, but he would respect her decision. Skye’s next words brought a surge of hope to his heart.

“I don’t _want_ to talk about what they…did to me. But…I don’t want it to sit on my chest like some burden, either.” When she didn’t elaborate, he tried pushing further.

“You don’t have to let it all out at once.” Grant felt perhaps a bit _too_ triumphant when she finally allowed eye contact. “Just little bits at a time. Whatever you feel like sharing, and whenever you feel comfortable.”

Skye’s eyes were alight with hope and gratitude, a small smile dancing on her lips. Grant’s eyes flickered down to watch them momentarily. He swallowed, tamping down the desire to kiss them and focused on her face, which bespoke an ethereal beauty in the early dawn glow.

“I, um…in the car, when I woke up crying,” Skye took a deep breath to calm her pulse, which was starting to race out of control again. She continued again with a quiet, almost emotional voice, as though she was reciting the experiences of someone else. “I dreamt I was in the lab at The Playground. I didn’t want to be there. Simmons insisted that she needed to run tests to find out more about what I’d become, only…she’d run tests before. Taking blood samples like she did after I was injected with GH325. MRI scans. Full physical. I remember vividly her saying that she was nearly finished with ‘fixing me’, as she put it.” This last sentence was said bitterly, and it was all Grant could do to keep himself from showing his anger. “I was so exhausted from the last several weeks of trying to control my powers, I agreed. I was so desperate. I kept hurting myself, trying to rein it in.

“Anyway, it wasn’t just Simmons and Fitz in the lab, or even them and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. Foot soldiers guarded the exits, and Coulson–” Skye’s voice broke off with a choked sob as she said the older man’s name. She felt Grant’s arms tense around her and saw the burning fury in his eyes, even as he tried to keep his face impassive. Gently, she raised her left hand to his face and placed it on his cheek, rubbing her thumb soothingly over his stubble. Patiently, Skye waited for him to relax before continuing. “Coulson was waiting in there with that…blank calmness of his. To be honest, that scared me more than Simmons.”

That caught Grant’s attention more than anything else. “Simmons?”


	18. Torn

Grant refused to let himself think about what Skye had said about her last days with S.H.I.E.L.D. Not until he had finished his set of push ups, at least.

“Seventy-seven, seventy-eight, seventy-nine, eighty. Eighty-one…”

He saw Skye raise herself up onto her elbows, her head cocked to one side, watching him intently. Her eyes glanced over at Kara when the other woman made an especially loud noise in the makeshift kitchen, before she refocused on him. She was still on the bed, her bottom half covered by the sheet and duvet. The sight made him smile.

“Eighty-four, eighty-five, eighty-six, eighty-seven…”

Bakshi passed by his peripheral vision, keeping a wide berth around the bed. Grant smirked. He’d told Bakshi that he was only to talk to Skye if it was a matter of life and death. Or unless she spoke to him first.

“Ninety. Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three, ninety-four…”

Grant’s thoughts drifted to Simmons. What had the scientist done? Skye had shut down as soon as he had asked that question, which only made him more terrified.

“Ninety-nine, a hundred.” Grant stood as he reached his goal, smiling at Skye as he did so. She smiled back, tilting her forearms up until her clasped hands touched her lips.

“Do you do this every morning?” she asked, a slight teasing tone to her voice. Grant’s mouth pulled up in a cocky smirk.

“Depends on what else I’ve got going on.” He replied. “You object?”

Skye shook her head hurriedly. She flicked her gaze to look behind him, scrunching up her nose and sticking her tongue out.

“Real mature, Skye.” Kara laughed. Grant looked around, an eyebrow raised. She looked at him, a twinkle in her eye that he immediately didn’t trust. “And for the record–”

“Kara.” He warned.

“He counts every time, too.”

“ _Kara._ ” Grant’s exasperation faded quickly as he heard the faint, wondrous sounds of Skye laughing. His head swept around to gaze at her, his own eyes lighting up with joy. A beautiful reflection of her.

“Kara.” Bakshi’s voice interrupted the moment. “Would you like to go over the intel in detail, now that Agent Ward is awake?”

“Ah, yeah. After I finish making this. Do you like pumpkin soup, Skye?” Kara quickly asked, stirring the soup a little faster than necessary.

“Uh-huh.” Skye nodded, sitting up carefully, but still grimacing as her stitches pulled at her wound.

“The painkillers must have worn off.” Kara observed, brows creased in sympathy.

“Probably time to change your bandage, Skye.” Grant said, striding over to pull her off the bed.

“And let it air. Got it.” She murmured, wincing as she moved. Supporting her carefully, Grant helped her out of the room, snagging the first-aid kit as they passed by it.

“Bakshi, see if you can find the strong painkillers, if Grant doesn’t have them.” Kara said, returning her focus to not burning their breakfast.

“Of course.”

Tuning out their babble, Grant laid Skye down on the floor in the bathroom, gently pulling up her top to expose the expanse of white bandage wrapped around her belly. “You might need to lean against the wall so I can take this off.” He said softly, helping her sit up and move against the wall by the toilet. Grant unclasped the hook that held the bandage on and unravelled the cloth. Skye breathed slowly, her eyes closed.

As the end of the cloth slipped off, Grant tried to stifle a gasp. The wound was more inflamed than ever and a couple of the stitches had popped.

“That bad, huh?” Skye muttered, watching him closely. Grant looked at her, a little pissed off.

“Why didn’t you say anything as soon as you’d ripped the stitches, Skye?” he demanded.

“I thought it was the bandage.” She mumbled, knowing that wasn’t going to work.

Grant huffed in disbelief. “In your skin? Come on, Skye, I’m not an idiot.”

“I’m sorry.”

Grant’s heart clenched as Skye whimpered these words. “Skye, I…”

“I-I’m _sorry!_ ” she choked out, then started sobbing. A panicked look settled onto Grant’s face as he tried to think of how to calm her down quickly.

“Skye, I know I shouldn’t have said that like I did, but please understand that just worried that you won’t heal properly if you do stuff like this.” He gambled out in a rush, grasping the sides of her head gently to make her look him in the eyes and believe him. Skye squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head in his hold, her hands in tight fists. “Skye.” He whispered, placing his forehead against hers. “Skye, please look at me.”

“If I don’t look, you won’t be mad.” She breathed out.

“I’m not angry, Skye. Please look at me.” Grant softly begged. She couldn’t start to distance herself from him, not now. On impulse, he tenderly kissed her cheeks where tears were still falling. “Please, Skye.”

Slowly, Skye opened her eyes, focusing on keeping her breathing at a normal pace before making eye contact. “You’re not mad?”

“Not mad.” Grant said with a smile, his face so close to hers.

She stifled a sniff. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He swore. The relieved smile she gave him sent trickles of delight through his body. “But I think we’re going to need to go to the hospital to treat that.”

Her new expression was one of stricken panic. “What if they ask where it came from?”

“Kitchen accident. And we can say we had someone medically trained there at the time.”

She nodded. “Right. So we’re gonna put the bandage back on and then go?”

Grant pulled his mouth into a considering pout. “Well, I suppose, if you don’t want breakfast…”

“No, no, it’s pumpkin soup!” she hurriedly said, bringing a laugh out of him that she loved to hear.


	19. Hospital Dash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short! It's more of a 'bridging' scene.

Kara took the wheel of the sedan, sticking as close to the speed limit as possible to get to the hospital quickly, and avoid the attention of the police. Grant sat in the back seat with Skye, who was wincing at every sudden movement the car made.

“Are you sure bringing the intel but leaving Bakshi there was the best idea?” Grant asked Kara, not taking his eyes off Skye and gently caressing her face whenever she hissed.

“Taking Skye to the hospital so soon was unexpected. We’d be going over the intel right now, so taking it with us means we can go over it while Skye’s being treated and ask Bakshi about further details when we get back. The sooner we can move, the better.” Kara replied quickly, focusing on the road.

“Right.”

“How long until we can move? Is my wound gonna slow us down?” Skye asked through gritted teeth.

“Depends how long the doctors say for you to get absolute rest.” Kara answered her.

“And we’re not going to throw you into the field with us until you’re ready.” Grant continued. “It might slow us down, it might not. It’s not big issue, though. The basement isn’t the only safe house we have.”

Skye nodded. “How far is the hospital?”

“Few minutes. Hang in there.” Kara said.

“’Hang in there’? I’m not dying!”

“Thank goodness for that.” Grant muttered, smiling at Skye when she looked at him.


	20. Rollercoaster of Emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of getting near the end of my buffer chapters. I'll still update everyday, but I'll let you know when I hit the last one, and then you guys'll have to wait until after my exams are finished.

Skye sat in the hospital bed, struggling not to hyperventilate and cause tremors to rock the building. There was no way she wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. to find her. She’d rather die. And the hospital situation wasn’t helping at all. It reminded her too much of the lab.

 _Breathe, Skye. Nice and slowly._ She closed her eyes, and focused on utilising the technique that May taught her to control her heartrate. The monitor that she was hooked up to helped her aim for an appropriate rate. _Relax, Skye. S.H.I.E.L.D. won’t find you here. Grant and Kara are here as well. You’ll be fine. Just relax._ She repeated the monologue over and over until she felt the tension in her muscles slip away. A knock on her door caused them to tense up again, but then she relaxed when she heard his voice.

“Skye? Can I come in?” Grant spoke from behind the door, sounding like he was worried that she would say no.

“Of course.” She said softly. Grant must’ve heard something, but was unable to distinguish what was said because he poked his head around the door and frowned. Skye smiled and beckoned him in by waving her hand.

“You feeling okay?” he asked, striding over to the bed. He took her hand in both of his and began rubbing it gently.

“Yeah.” She whispered, moving her other hand to meet his. “Painkillers are working, but this place gives me the creeps.”

Grant glanced down with an expression of worry. “We’ll be out of here as soon as we can. It’s these people’s job to help you heal.” He was careful not to trigger a memory, particularly by saying she’ll be ‘fixed’.

“I know.” Skye frowned as a thought came to her. “What did you register me in as? I don’t have a last name.”

“Well, Kara suggested we use ‘Ward’, but we didn’t have any wedding rings handy.” Skye snorted at that, causing Grant to half-laugh in embarrassment. “And I thought using ‘Daisy’ or ‘Skye Zabo’ might alert S.H.I.E.L.D.” She stiffened and Grant hastily tried to sooth her. “We didn’t use those, so S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t know we’re here. You’re safe, don’t worry.” A hopeful smile graced his face as he tried to put Skye’s mind at ease.

Skye took a deep, slow breath, not looking at him. Grant thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest. “So what _did_ you use as my name?” she asked, trying to put it behind her for now. _I’ll deal with the panic when I feel safe_.

“You mentioned to me once the name that was given to you at the orphanage, remember?” he had a small smile on his face, threatening to break out into a smirk. Which it did at her reaction.

“You put down ‘Mary Sue Poots’?” she stage-whispered, her tone and face registering disgust. “ _Why?_ ”

Grant scrambled to answer her steadily under her penetrating gaze. “Well, it’s not amongst the list of names that S.H.I.E.L.D. will have for you. Either they don’t know about it, or they’re dismissive of it. They know you hate it and so will avoid it at all costs.” His mouth was now stretched into a grimace. “You’re not mad are you?”

“Apparently not _all_ costs.” Skye muttered under her breath, still glaring at Grant. It surprised her that she felt comfortable enough with him that she could do this and not be so worried that he was just going to walk out. The feeling was still there, but in her anger, she suppressed it. Pursing her lips, she focused on answering Grant’s last question. “I understand _why_ you did it. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”

His face flickered with multiple emotions. There was relief, hope and joy at her saying that she understood, but that was overshadowed by hurt, guilt and resignation at her next line. He’d underestimated the implications the name brought, and that strengthened his resolve to get her out as soon as possible.


	21. It Was An Accident, I Swear

Grant stood up straight from where he had been slouching over the railings of the hospital bed, turning quickly to face the doctor that had just walked into the room. He felt Skye stiffen at the unannounced intrusion, but she made no comment.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Poots.” The doctor greeted warmly, smiling at her over his glasses. “I’m Dr. Farrer. I’ll be leading the surgery that you’ll undergo later on today.”

“Surgery?!” Skye struggled to sit up in her panic. “Why do I need surgery? Don’t you just need to stitch me up?” she looked to Grant, tears welling up in her eyes, and he tried to reassure her that she was going to be fine.

“Unfortunately not.” Dr. Farrer replied with a sympathetic smile. “We need to make sure that none of the organs behind the cut were damaged in any way, and if any are, we need to deal with that immediately.” Skye was slowly getting more and more worked up over having her insides looked at, her breathing coming out in short gasps. “Ms. Poots, I assure you, you won’t feel a thing. We’ll attach an oxygen mask to you, so you’ll sleep throughout the surgery. There won’t be any pain.”

Grant had wound his arm around Skye’s shoulders as the doctor gave his assurances, and the words, alongside the physical comfort, helped her relax.

“How long until the surgery, and how long does she have to remain here afterwards?” Grant asked once Skye was breathing normally.

“The nurses will start prepping her in just over an hour and a half. And staying in hospital afterwards depends on whether or not any of her organs have been damaged. If we just need to disinfect the wound and stitch it up, she should be good to go first thing tomorrow.” The doctor smiled again, and Grant wondered if that was part of his job or just a nervous twitch.

“Thank you.” He said sincerely, and the doctor nodded.

“Might I have a word with you, Mr. Ward?” Dr. Farrer asked. Grant looked up in surprise and the man was gesturing to the door. “It won’t take long.”

“Ah…” he glanced at Skye and she nodded her encouragement. “Sure.” Pulling his arm out from behind the woman, he pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’ll be back shortly.” He whispered to her. She smiled.

Stepping out of the room, Grant saw the doctor waiting in the opposite side of the corridor.

“Might I ask what caused the cut?” Dr. Farrer asked once Grant had joined him.

Grant sighed. “It was an accident. She was insistent on using a big knife to cut up an onion. Trying to be like a chef, I suppose.” His stress showing, he raked a hand through his hair. “She hadn’t dried her hands properly after washing them and her grip slipped. The knife swung around, with the top of the handle on the edge of the bench, and she was pressed up against it.”

The doctor nodded once, his expression thoughtful. “How long ago was this?”

“A few days.”

Dr. Farrer looked alarmed. “Why didn’t you bring her in before now?”

“Kara has medical training, and we thought we could help her heal without having to go to the hospital.”

“Well from the sounds of things, if it wasn’t too much of a worry for you from the start, there shouldn’t be much damage to the internal organs. We’ll still check, but she is to have at least two weeks of rest after the surgery. No physical excursions of any kind.”

Grant nodded. “Noted.”

The doctor smiled again and walked away down the corridor, leaving Grant to head back to Skye.


	22. Family Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand that this is later than usual, but in my defense I was studying all day, and it's not quite midnight yet. Enjoy! :)

Kara strode through the corridors of the large hospital, getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of proper directions that the nurse at the front desk gave her. Finally finding the floor that Skye was settled on, she wound her way along the aisles, peeping through every room window to spot Skye and Grant. When she did find them, or more accurately, Grant’s back, she waited outside.

Smiling to herself, she vaguely noted the nurse who had come to stand next to her, also gazing in on the couple.

“What are those?” the nurse asked politely.

“Sorry?” Kara looked at her, surprise and confusion the two main features on her face.

“The papers you’re holding. What are they?” the nurse asked again, clarifying this time. She seemed to be speaking out of suspicious curiosity, but her tone was merely conversational. Kara glanced down at the papers she was clutching to her chest.

“Oh.” She laughed a little, covering up her annoyance. _What business is it of hers?_ “Family planning.” She smiled slightly and turned back to watch her friends.

“You don’t seem that excited.” The nurse observed.

“It’s not for me.” Kara nodded towards the couple in the room.

“Oh!” the nurse exclaimed, delighted. “And I assume you’re going to be godmother?”

Kara smiled genuinely this time, her lips parting to form a grin. “I hope so.” _To be honest, that would be pretty cool!_ “I never got your name?” she looked back at the nurse, the smile still in place.

“Evelyn.” The nurse stretched out her hand.

“Kara.” She met the outstretched hand and shook it. The nurse released her hand before walking through the door. _What is she doing?_ Kara followed and moved to stand beside Grant, sharing a comforting smile with him and Skye as the nurse faced them across the bed.

“Good afternoon, Mary. My name is Evelyn, and I’m here to prep you for your surgery.” Evelyn smiled warmly at Skye as she worked to get the bed detached from its ties to the wall.

“That hour and a half went by fast.” Skye muttered. Both Grant and Kara laughed softly, Grant still holding onto Skye’s hands with both of his own.

“And provided everything is okay in the surgery, you should be awake within the hour.” Evelyn added, causing a huge smile to spread across Skye’s face.

“Can Grant stay with me?” she asked hopefully.

“He can be there when you fall asleep and wake up.” The nurse reassured her. “All ready to go now. Excuse me.” Evelyn pushed the bed out from the wall and wheeled it out through the door, Grant and Kara trailing behind.


	23. Ah, Trauma, Thou Art A Heartless Bitch

Skye was wheeled along whitewashed corridors and under harsh fluorescent lights. The nurse Evelyn kept a steady, but fast pace, and Kara and Grant had to walk briskly to keep up. Not that it was really of any difficulty with their long legs. Both of them held her hands as they strode alongside the bed towards the operating theatre.

However, the moment Skye was wheeled into the surgery room, she started to panic. Her distress was evident in both her expression and her quick pants of fear, and she started to thrash around in the bed. Grant desperately got into her main line of vision, but the sudden tremors that were shaking the building were making that difficult.

“Hey, hey! Relax, sweetheart, you’re going to be fine!” he urged her, cupping her face gently in his hands and ignoring everything else around her. Her tear-filled eyes and tear-streaked cheeks were all he could see as he fought off his waves of panic. She gazed back at him, begging and pleading for him to get her out of there. “You won’t feel any pain. I promise. They’re just going to stitch you up like Kara did, and then we can go in the morning.” His rushed words were brimming with the sincerity that Simmons lacked the last time she saw her, and Skye struggled to contain the vibrations that she was enacting. “Alright?” Grant breathed softly, and that became the focusing point for Skye to fully relax. She nodded and the room stilled again.

At once, the doctors set out to finish prepping Skye for the surgery, allowing Grant to hold her hand and stand by her until she drifted off to sleep. He was then quickly ushered out to join Kara in the adjoining viewing room and settled into his one position of leaning against the rail under the window. Kara stood more loosely by his side, the files she had been holding onto earlier tucked under one arm.

“She’ll be fine, Grant.” She soothed, running her hand up and down his back. He smiled back at her gratefully. “You know what you need?”

“Skye as herself and us all safe?” he quipped quickly.

Kara gave a soft laugh. “Aside from that, which will come in time.”

“A distraction.”

“Correct.” She smiled, and handed him the files. He looked sceptical.

“Won’t anyone be suspicious of you handing me these? I’m involved with Skye, according to them, and to not concentrate on her operation would raise red flags, wouldn’t it?”

“I’ve already told Evelyn that they’re family planning papers for you and Skye.” She replied. Grant nodded and looked down at them, opening the folder to the first page. “And she’s under the impression that I would be godmother, so no worries there.”

“You would be.” He murmured, and glanced up with an adorable smile.

Kara beamed back. “Thanks.”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Or aunt. Whatever you prefer.” He chuckled as she mock punched him.

Throughout the surgery procedure, Grant poured over the intel that Bakshi had collected. He was impressed with the brainwashed agent’s resourcefulness. _I’ll have to mention that to him when I see him again_. Two agents were stationed in Lebanon, for whatever reason that Hydra wanted them there. Grant guessed that it couldn’t be good.

“Then again, this _is_ Hydra.” Kara pointed out when he mentioned this to her. She had remained at the window while Grant sat in a chair, getting up every few minutes to check the progress. So far, so good.

An hour into the surgery, Grant had gone over every detail with precision. And watching Skye only just being sewn up was itching on his nerves. He was grateful that there had been no damage done at all to any of her organs, and she would be released tomorrow morning. There was something else that piqued his interest, though.

“Kara, why did you tell the nurse that the files were family planning?”

His question made her head snap around to look at him, and a guilty smile spread over her lips. “Because it was the first thing to come to my mind.”

“You trying to play Cupid?” he turned to face her fully, crossing his arms while his face showed nothing but curiosity.

“Maybe.” At his raised eyebrow, she sighed. “Oh come on, Grant. You deserve a _lot_ of happiness, and having a baby with Skye is one way to do that.”

“But what if I’m a terrible dad? Like mine was?”

“A lot of parents worry about that, Grant.” Kara moved closer to comfort him. “And that is partly why they become such great ones.” They smiled at each other, and Grant turned back to watch the last few minutes of Skye’s operation. _Don’t think I didn’t notice how easily you latched onto the option, Grant._


	24. Constant Vigilance

Grant kept a constant vigilance over Skye as the surgery ended and she was wheeled from the room. She hadn’t woken up yet, but Grant was worried about breaking his promise to her that he wouldn’t be there when she woke up. Kara lingered behind to listen to the nurse’s hushed words to one of the doctors. In this instance, she was glad of the electrocuted nanomask on her face. It allowed her to hear sounds more clearly.

“Did you notice how the shaking started and stopped when Mary was freaking out?” Evelyn muttered to a tallish man in turquoise scrubs. “She might be one of those indexed people that got out when S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed.”

The man scoffed. “You read too much, sweetheart.” He started walking away, smug in the fact that the nurse followed him. “It was just a coincidence. If she really was, the government would have her in custody by now.”

Evelyn stopped in her tracks, allowing him to continue on his way. “I’m not so sure.”

Kara had her eye on the black woman, and followed her as she made her way to a pay phone. “Whoa, Evelyn!” she called out, hoping to stop the nurse before S.H.I.E.L.D. captured them.

“Yes? How can I help?” Evelyn turned around to see Kara moving swiftly towards her.

“I overheard what you said to that doctor.” Kara cut straight to the chase. “Are you trying to call S.H.I.E.L.D. now?”

“Yeah, if you heard what I said, you know she’s not normal.”

“You’re right, she’s not normal. But S.H.I.E.L.D. is the reason why she freaked out in the theatre, and why she’s injured. If you get them on our tail, she won’t get the help she needs.”

Evelyn gaped in shock at the woman’s declaration. Kara’s eyes bored desperately into hers, and the nurse quickly gathered her wits. She looked Kara right in the eye.

“Are those two really planning for a family?”

“Not yet.” Kara replied softly. “We have work to do before any of us settle down. But they do love each other. She’ll get the best care.” It was these words that convinced the nurse, and Evelyn nodded with a smile before hurrying to her next task in her shift.

Sighing in relief, Kara made her way to Skye’s room, finding Grant with Skye as the girl slowly started to stir.

“Hey Skye.” He smiled at her, his body language screaming his adoration for the woman he loves.

“Hm?” she vaguely mumbled, blinking as she tried to get her surroundings into focus.

“Afternoon, Sleepyhead.” Grant laughed. Kara moved closer on Skye’s other side.

“Hey, Skye. How you feeling?”

“…weird.” Came the reply, hushed and hard to hear.

“Are you in any pain at all?” Kara reached her hand out to lay it on Skye’s forehead, testing the temperature. Skye shook her head, looking a little bit like a rag doll. “Okay. That’s good.”

“Grant?”

“I’m here, Skye.”

“What happened?”

Grant and Kara chuckled. They expected Skye would be somewhat out of it for a while.

“You had a surgery, remember?”

“What did they do?” her voice trembled.

“They made sure that your organs weren’t damaged, and then they sewed up your wound.” Grant replied as gently as possible, but still Skye started to cry. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” he panicked.

“I-I’m sorry.” Skye hiccupped, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“For what?”

“I…” she struggled to say it before she slipped under again.


	25. Abandonment Issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news! I'm taking a day off from studying to write more chapters! So my buffer increases :)  
> I also may be posting more fics on here soon.

Kara was the only one out of the two bedside companions who didn’t immediately jump to the worst conclusion.

“Skye?” Grant leaned forward, worried. “Skye?!”

“She’s just asleep.” Kara said softly, checking the monitor. “Sleeping helps her heal and she doesn’t feel the pain as much.” She turned back to Grant, who was looking at her with an open panic. “Don’t worry.”

He nodded after a moment of checking the monitor himself and sat back, his left hand still holding Skye’s right. Kara merely looked at him with a smug smirk, the expression softened by her gentle gaze.

“What?” he murmured after a while, uncomfortable with her unwavering stare.

“You called her sweetheart.” She replied quietly. His eyes flicked upwards to meet hers, looking a little embarrassed.

“It just slipped out.”

“And did it also slip out in the operating theatre?” Kara leaned against the rails of the hospital bed, still holding the smile.

“That was because I can’t call her ‘Skye’ in front of anyone else here.” He said carefully, not as uncomfortable with the conversation as he expected to be.

Kara shrugged with an attempt at feigning innocence. “I’m just saying that maybe you and Skye are not as separate as any of us thought–”

“Kara!” Grant interrupted. He sighed. “It’s because…I’m scared.”

“Of?” she asked softly.

“That…she’s going to think that I don’t want her around. I love her and want to make sure she’s happy…and I don’t want her to think that you coerced me into ‘keeping her’.”

“Grant–”

“We have a lot to work through, okay?” he rushed out, in stark difference to his previous statements.

“I know–”

“I just don’t want her bolting before we have that chance.” He absent-mindedly began rubbing his thumb over the back of Skye’s hand.

Kara sighed with a hint of frustration at her best friend’s thick-headedness and seemingly irrational fears of being abandoned by Skye again. However, she understood where those factors came from, so kept her cool to help the best she could.

“Grant.” She said firmly. “Listen to me. Skye doesn’t need to hear what you just said to make up her mind about staying with us. Did you really expect her to turn up, get you to fix her after she shot you, and then…go?” Grant shifted in his seat. “Come on, Grant. Be reasonable. Where would she go? She loves you!”

“You’re still so sure?”

“We’ve been together as a group for about a week now, she’s never once tried to leave and every time she had a panic attack, you were the one who managed to calm her down quickly. Does that mean nothing to you?”

Grant didn’t know how to answer.


	26. Good News

Skye woke in the morning to bright light streaming in through the hospital window. She squeezed her eyes shut and gradually allowed them to adjust. Once she had some semblance of her vision working, she glanced around the room. A folded up stretcher leaned against the wall underneath the window, and Skye was confused at the feet on the floor, propped up by their toes.

A knock on the door drew her attention, and as Kara entered the room, an easy smile on her face, a man popped up in Skye’s peripheral vision. Startled, she looked back at him, and recognised Grant. Smiling cheekily, she covered up her previous confusion.

“I wondered what those feet were doing.” She laughed a little at Grant’s amused smirk and slight shake of his head.

“It’s like he can’t go a day without pushing himself up off the floor.” Kara chimed in, dropping ungracefully into the seat by Skye’s bed.

“Ha ha, guys. My sides are splitting.” Grant said, dramatically gesturing his hands widely.

“Were you trying to be funny, Skye?” Kara asked, mixing her tone with innocence and confusion.

“No, not at all.” Skye replied in the same manner, causing Grant to roll his eyes. She dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “I think his humour settings need a little work.” She sat back, giggling, as Kara muffled her own laughter behind her hand.

Kara straightened up in her seat as her laughter died away. She intended to talk to Skye in private, so tried to ward off Grant.

“Grant, could you give Skye and I a few moments alone? I need to talk to her about some things.”

Grant frowned. “What things?” He still clearly did not want to leave Skye alone with anyone.

 _You stubborn dove._ “Ladies’ things.” She clarified, inclining her head to further get across her meaning. To his credit, Grant merely tensed slightly.

“Well, if ladies are going to be a part of my life, then shouldn’t I know about these things?” he folded is arms, looking a little like a pouting toddler who was not getting his way.

Kara and Skye looked stunned. They looked at each other as if to check that they both heard the same thing.

“ _Damn_ , girl!” Kara breathed out, her tone entirely made up of awe. “You bagged the man with _everything_!”

Skye grinned and looked so proud of herself, but there was a hint of hesitation there, and that worried Grant. Unfortunately, Evelyn walked in before he could broach that topic of conversation.

“Good morning!” Evelyn greeted. “Someone looks cheerful.” She observed with a happy smile.

“I get to go home!” Skye declared, squeezing herself up in excitement at the thought. Grant thought that she could really sell something if she wanted to. “I miss my fridge.” Everyone laughed at that. That was so Skye.

“Well, we’ll be checking over your vitals, and if all seems good, you’ll be discharged within the hour.” The nurse replied, picking up the tablet at the end of the bed. “Did you sleep well, Mr. Ward?” she politely asked, glancing up at him with a kind smile.

“The stretcher was surprisingly comfy.” He replied, sounding genuine. _It really was. Where do they sell them?_

Before the silence after Grant’s words lasted longer than two seconds, Skye turned to Kara. “How’s Bakshi?” she asked.

 _Clever._ Grant thought, impressed. _Less awkwardness, less suspicion._

“He’s fine.” Kara replied easily, slipping into her mask of pretending to actually care for the man seamlessly. “Starting on his next project, which is good.”

No one out of the trio knew what to say to keep the conversation going after that, so all three were grateful for Evelyn to announce that she was finished.

“All done!” she said brightly. “I’ll just have the doctor sign your discharge papers, and then you can go home.”

None of the smiles in the room were faked.


	27. First Signs of Trouble

Grant felt the uneasy twisting of his gut as he, Kara and Skye got into the sedan.

“Grant?” Skye asked, buckling herself into the front passenger seat, as Kara did the same in the back. “What’s wrong?”

He sighed. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Do we have a tail?” Kara asked, alarmed, and checked out the back window.

“I dunno, but, we’ll take the long way back.” Grant put the car into gear, and drove smoothly out of the carpark. Indicating right, he obviously intended to take back roads to the basement.

“Do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. caught onto ‘Mary Sue Poots’?” Skye asked, her fear quivering her voice. She knew that she should be angry about this, but if she was right, Grant would need to keep calm to get them out of trouble.

“It’s unlikely.” Kara replied, but she didn’t sound so confident.

“Well, whatever it is, either S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra are onto us. I don’t think its ordinary mercs.” Grant muttered, turning left into a one way street.

The rest of the car ride was in tense silence, and Grant eventually slowed to a stop a few streets out.

“Grant?” Skye asked.

“The end of that van.” He said quietly, looking at her. “Do you recognise anything about it?”

Skye frowned as she peered at the black vehicle. “I might recognise the number plate, but I can’t see it clearly enough.”

“Glove box.” Kara helpfully offered.

Opening the compartment, Skye found a small pair of binoculars. She pulled them out and adjusted them until she could make out the digits on the plate.

“Oh.” She said. “Yeah, that’s S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Great.” Grant growled out, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

“Is Bakshi…?”

“Bakshi’s compromised.” He answered her unfinished question.

“Right.”

“So where do we go from here?” Kara queried.

“We wait.” Grant replied, sitting back in his seat, his head falling against the headrest.

“Shouldn’t we leave the car?” Skye suggested. A pair of confused faces turned to her. “Well, we parked in a legitimate place. An empty car will raise less suspicion than an occupied one. And if they come to investigate, we’re not trapped.” Both faces in front of her now looked impressed.

“That’s a good idea.” Kara agreed. “One thing. Where do we wait, then? Cause we’d need to know when to get back.”

“The roof.” Grant said. A plan was already forming in his head. “We can use the fire escape.” Releasing their seatbelts, he and the women exited the sedan.


	28. History Lesson

Kara had a prickly feeling on the back of her neck ever since she’d gotten out of the car. Routinely checking over her shoulder as she followed Grant and Skye, the three of them crossed the street and cautiously began ascending the fire escape.

“Can we get up five floors without alerting S.H.I.E.L.D. to our being here?” Skye whispered, her left hand resting on Grant’s left bicep.

“If we’re quick.” He whispered back, but he was frowning. Kara voiced his concern before he could.

“If we’re quick, we won’t be able to get up two floors before they realise we’re here.” Kara muttered as they came to a stop on the first platform. “The rest of these are creaky. How old is this building?”

“Probably a hundred years.” Skye answered her absent-mindedly. Both of her companions looked at her, and she shrugged. “The orphanage sometimes had professionals from all sorts of fields come in and talk about their work. One was an art director for films, and he specialised in historical settings. I thought he was the best.”

Grant nodded and carefully placed a foot on the lower step in front of him. It made only a slight noise as he put his entire weight on it. “It’s in good condition.” He quietly observed.

Skye glanced around at their surroundings. “It’s not exactly a run-down part of town. Makes sense for there to be some sort of care for safety stuff.” Grant grunted in response and placed his next foot a few steps up. The girls make soft noises of annoyance.

“Really, Grant?” Kara hissed. “How are we supposed to step that far without almost doing the splits?!”

“I _would_ be doing the splits.” Skye added, folding her arms.

“Come on.” He ignored their complaints and continued to climb.


	29. A Blast To Remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, this is the last chapter that I have in my buffer, so I won't be able to update for at least a few days.

Skye found herself held back from looking over the edge of the building by Kara as Grant expertly checked S.H.I.E.L.D.’s position without being seen.

“Grant, I really think I’ll be able to help.” She started, trying to stand up again, only to be pushed back down by a firm Kara.

Grant scoffed lightly, sitting back to look at her. “Skye, we left the hospital two hours ago. You need to rest, not over exert yourself.” He softened his firm words with a smile, although his point remained the same. Skye frowned, but stayed put.

“You could at least tell me what they’re doing, Grant.” She spoke up again after a few minutes. Kara tensed, but when it appeared that Skye wouldn’t be standing up again any time soon, she relaxed.

“I saw Coulson.” He replied, after a second’s hesitation. “He looks a little pissed off, actually.” Smirking, he strained his neck to catch a glimpse of a flash of light before an explosion ripped through the basement apartment, sending S.H.I.E.L.D. agents scrambling.

Grant jerked back form the edge, holding on to the little lip of bricks that jutted above the rooftop as the entire building trembled with the force of the blast. A quick, panicked glance towards the girls had him hurrying to get to them. Both Skye and Kara were clinging to each other, Kara’s eyes wide open while Skye’s were squeezed shut.

“Guys. Skye, look at me.” He urged. “You need to relax, you’re gonna crush Kara.”

Shaking with fear, Skye allowed Grant to ease her grip off of Kara, only to grab hold of him as soon as she could. He wrapped his arms around her, burrowing his face into the juncture of her neck.

“You okay, Kara?” he asked, his voice muffled by the girl he was holding.

“Sort of.” Her faint voice shook a little, causing Grant to look up and pull her into the hug. “Are we going to stay here?”

“The explosion was big, but emergency services will evacuate the buildings closest to it. We’re gonna have to avoid running into S.H.I.E.L.D. for a while.”

Skye sniffled and raised her head, running her fingers through her hair. Grant thought that she seemed to have her hands by her head whenever she got stressed.

“Won’t this be good look on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s résumé?” she joked and to her relief, the others laughed.

“Let’s just say the Talbot’s going to be more focused on finding out why this happened more than worrying about us.” Grant answered her. Skye’s face screwed up in confusion.

“Why would he be after you? What did you do?”

“We broke Bakshi out of his prison.” Kara said bluntly.

Skye blinked. “Oh.” Her mouth pulled up a little in a smirk. “Well, no wonder he’s so pissed.”


	30. My Head Hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So exams are over, and I should be getting back into the swing of things :)

Grant had rarely felt this tense. He sat against the edge of the roof, one arm wrapped around Skye who was still clinging to his side. His hand gently rubbed the small of her back and laid his head on hers, whispering comforting phrases to help her keep calm, but the feigned peacefulness only went skin deep.

Kara sat to his left, her legs crossed as she switched her gaze from him to Skye. She faced them from her position just in front of his knee. Her right one bounced up and down with her impatience and her hands were playing with the ends of her hair.

A loud, crumpling sound caused all three to whip their heads around towards where their apartment was.

“What was that?” Skye whispered. Grant looked at her quickly. Those were the first words she’d said since the army had turned up to arrest all remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The ground trembled a little.

“Sounded like a car being crushed.” Kara replied, almost as quietly, glancing back and forth from the skyline to her friends.

“By what? I didn’t hear a tank drive up.” Grant said, confused.

“Well, what do you think it was?” Kara snapped back. “We can’t exactly look over the edge.”

“Guys.” Skye muttered, effectively breaking up the argument. “Enough.”

“Sorry.” The other two said simultaneously.

“Grant.” She continued. “How much longer can we stay here?”

“We can’t leave until the army’s gone. Whatever forensics team is there won’t have to stretch beyond the street.”

“Poor Bakshi.”

“Yeah.” Grant said softly, but he didn’t really feel sorry for the man. “Why were you asking, are you getting cold?”

“No. But the anaesthetics have worn off and my head’s burning.”

“Burning?” Kara asked with alarm. “Why is it burning?”

“I think the drugs triggered something.” Skye replied, shifting her position against Grant so she could hold her head with both hands.

“In your system?” Grant clarified. “What the hell…”

“I’ll tell you everything once we’re somewhere else.” She cut across him. “Where’s the next safe house?”

“Wyoming.” Grant answered quietly. “Might have to do it up a bit though.”

“I take it the place doesn’t have food, then?” Skye asked a little hopefully.

He laughed. “No, it doesn’t. You hungry?”

“Yep.”


	31. The Vise Versa Calming Technique

Kara, against the advice of Grant, crawled to the edge of the roof to check that the sounds they were hearing were of the army leaving. She waited for a few moments, ignoring Grant’s hissed orders to get back, the slowly popped the top of her head over the lip, just enough to see.

“Kara! Get back here now!” Grant sounded furious, but she wasn’t too bothered. Satisfied with what she was seeing, she backed up and scooted over to the others.

“What did you see?” Skye asked, before Grant could start spitting at her. Thankfully, he remained silent, but Kara could see he was fuming.

“It’s cool. They’re going. Whatever was left of S.H.I.E.L.D. when they got here is going with them.”

“We’ll have to leave for Wyoming as soon as we get back to the car.” Grant said through gritted teeth. Clearly he was going to discuss it at length with her later, and the look he was giving her confirmed it. Skye, subconsciously perhaps, stretched her right arm across Grant’s torso and rubbed soothing circles into his side. Kara hid a smirk when this appeared to relax him, and was tempted to take a photo to hallmark the moment.

As the last of the noise faded away, the three of them stood up carefully and as quietly as possible, and made their way down the fire escape. Grant had to help Skye walk, and that hadn’t changed by the time they reached the sedan. He was growing increasingly worried that they’d have to take her back to the hospital, but didn’t want to risk capture by the government.

“Are you sure you don’t want any painkiller tablets?” he asked for the third time.

“Yes, I want painkillers, Ward, but I don’t want the burning to increase once they wear off.”

 _Ooh, she called him Ward!_ Kara thought. _Back off, Grant. Polite concern at this point is best._ To her relief, Grant seemed to pick up on that without her having to open her mouth.

“Okay, well try to sleep. Maybe that’ll help.” He said softly, sliding into his seat and buckling in.

“Will there be food when I wake up?”

“Of course.” Kara interjected before Grant could answer. She shot him a warning look as Skye nodded, satisfied, and drifted off to sleep.

“Kara.” Grant said in a low tone as he pulled out of the parking spot. “You know that she’s going to be more grumpy if I don’t have food when she wakes up.”

“So get the food now, and you’re good.” She replied like it was a no-brainer. “Besides, she needs to sleep, and I was the one who promised her, not you.”

He grumbled, and was silent for a while.


	32. Get Grant Talking

“Skye’s asleep, Grant.” Kara said as he pulled away from the kerb by the convenience store. “You can tell me why you’re so mad.”

Grant remained silent, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“Grant.”

“What do you want me to say, Kara? Anything you haven’t thought of yourself?” he snapped at her suddenly. Kara blinked in surprise. “Well, fine. Your little stunt could have given us a tail.”

“Look, I get why you’re mad, but you don’t need to lash out.”

“I’m not lashing out.”

Kara scoffed. “I don’t mean physically. You can be quite verbally vicious when you want to.”

Grant was silent again.

“Okay, fine. If you’re gonna be stubborn about this, then I can get Skye to get you to talk it out.”

Apparently, it was possible for his shoulders to tense up more. “Don’t bring her into this. She’s got enough to worry about as it is.” He growled, clenching his hands so much the knuckles went white.

Kara leaned forward, poking her head in between the seats. “Then talk.” She stated.

Grant sighed. “The army has more resources than S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson may have more important issues on his plate to deal with than us right now, but Talbot is still wanting us for breaking Bakshi out. And when he finds out none of the bodies in that basement are ours, he’s gonna come after us.”

“But Bakshi’s dead, which on his own is what he deserved, and Talbot didn’t lose any of his men. Plus, the bodies will take a while to identify, they would’ve been so badly burned.”

“Talbot’s chummy with Coulson. They’ll work something out soon, and we’ll have more agents on our ass.”

“We don’t have any now.” Kara pointed out. “For the time being, they’re assuming that we were in there when it went up in flames, and any neighbour will probably have reported no other party being involved.”

“…you may have a point.” He grudgingly conceded.

“So stop worrying.” She said, sitting back with her arms crossed. “And just get us away from there.”


	33. Surprising Information

Grant made no more stops during the drive to Wyoming, aside from the necessary ones at nearby petrol stations. Kara fell asleep a few miles out from Omaha, but he woke her up just outside of Lincoln to take over the driving. It wasn’t long before he fell asleep too, stretched out on the backseat.

When he woke up, Kara and Skye were talking quietly in the front. The faint noises he made while sitting up drew Skye’s attention away from her conversation with Kara.

“Evening.” She said softly, smiling.

Glancing out the window to a very late dusk, Grant slumped against the left car door. “Where are we?”

“Nearing the Nebraska-Wyoming Border.” Kara answered, keeping her gaze on the darkened road ahead.

“You slept a long time.” Skye observed as Grant stiffened in surprise.

“Why didn’t you wake me before now?” he demanded.

“You needed to sleep!” she replied, a little indignant. “We are obliged to take care of you too, you know.”

“But I–”

“How about we all leave this conversation until we’ve arrived in that place that Grant wants to take us to…” she trailed off, insinuating that Grant fill in the missing information. With a sigh, he complied.

“Yellowstone.”

Skye twisted around in her seat, staring at him. “You have a safe house in Yellowstone Park?”

“It’s not really the mountain herself, it’s more in the acres of wilderness just north of it.”

“Aaaand why do you have a safe house there?”

“I built a cabin there when I was seventeen. Lived in it for a few years with Buddy.” He kept his sentences short, hoping to answer enough of her questions to dissuade more from being asked.

No such luck.

“You lived on your own in the woods for three years?”

Grant privately cursed, not wanting to open up so much, but knowing that Skye would never truly understand until she had satisfactory information. “Five.”

“ _Five years?!_ ” both Kara and Skye shrieked. Grant winced at the shrill pitch.

“Yes.”

“Why?” they chorused again.

“Garrett.” He said simply, in an effort to put off the rest of the conversation. It did…for a few moments.

“We have a lot to discuss.” Kara said quietly. Skye sat back in her seat, but Grant watched her reaction carefully. Her brows were pinched together, like she was working through a difficult and stubborn firewall. She didn’t look angry, though her curiosity about him seemed to be piqued. Grant groaned internally.

_Great._


	34. Late Night Fill Up

Kara pulled the sedan over into a rural petrol station, and both her and Grant got out of the vehicle immediately. Grant moved to fill up the tank, while Kara drifted inside, looking for cheap snacks. Skye made a dramatic, slow display of getting out of the car then stretched in a starfish shape.

“What are you doing?”

Skye spun around until she faced Grant, wincing as a muscle twinged. “Stretching. I would’ve thought that you could figure _that_ much out. I’ve been sitting in that seat for hours.”

Grant looked away for a moment as he shifted his feet. “How are you feeling? I should’ve asked earlier.”

“Better.” She replied, crossing her arms and leaning on them on the roof of the car. “Sleeping helped, but…my muscles still burn if I move them quickly or too much.”

His gaze bore into hers, trying to gauge what she was thinking.

“What?” she asked.

“Were your muscles burning before you came to us?” he asked gently, uneasy about broaching the topic.

Skye was silent for a moment. “Yeah, they were.” she whispered. “What…Simmons did to me was, um…” she took a deep breath. “It set my blood on fire. At least, that’s what it felt like.”

Grant was sure that his face was covered in horrified shock, and it took him several seconds to get it under control. “You…you didn’t mention burning when you found us.”

Skye looked away, scared of saying something that could send him away, but knowing that he deserved to know is what prompted her to answer him. “It had been a week since the – since Simmons, and it had died down from what it originally was. Any nightmare or dream that revolves around that reignites the pain.” She shrugged as though it was nothing important. “It feels like I’ve been injected again.”

“Injected?” Grant repeated. When Skye froze, he hurriedly tried to find something else to talk about. “So the pain, that’s why you hold your head?”

“I didn’t realise that was so noticeable.” She murmured to herself.

“Skye?” he asked, brows pinched in confusion and concern.

“Nothing.” She replied, shrugging it off. “Are you done?” she nodded towards the nozzle.

“Nearly.” He said, still worried. Deciding that the tank was full enough, he pulled the nozzle out of the tank and placed it back on its hook. “Kara, you can pay for it now!” he called to the woman in the shop. He received a thumbs up in return.

Walking around the car, Grant approached Skye slowly. “Skye, I know I’ve said this before, and I think you know that I was telling the truth then as well. But we won’t judge you for what someone else thinks of you.”

“But I’m a _monster_!” she insisted, her expression pained.

“For a long time, you thought _I_ was a monster. It’s just a perspective, that’s all. And it _definitely_ does not make it fact.”


	35. Almost There

Skye wanted to believe him. But the way that the people she had considered family had reacted to finding out she had powers had her holding back. True, she used to think Grant was a monster. Then she realised that she had jumped to conclusions about someone she didn’t really know. It was exactly what S.H.I.E.L.D. had done to her.

“Grant, I…” she stuttered out as he moved a little closer. “I don’t know what to do.” she mumbled, tears spilling from her eyes. She bowed her head and heard Grant close the distance between them until his arms wound around her.

“Skye.” He whispered, squeezing her gently. “You got hurt and you found us. Together, we’re all gonna find out what to do.”

“How?” she asked, raising her head to meet his gaze.

“We’ll talk about us and figure out what we want and what we can do to get that.” He continued to whisper. “I promise.”

His forehead was now touching hers. Skye’s breathing hitched, but she kept her gaze locked with his. Grant leaned in, Skye mirroring his action.

“Okay! All paid for!” Kara announced as she walked out of the small store. Grant and Skye jumped apart. “I-oh.” She stopped as she realised what she’d barged into. “Crap. I’m sorry, um…we-we should go.” She moved towards the car, heading for the driver’s seat when Grant cleared his throat.

“Not a chance, Kara. I’m driving. Back seat.” He stated, striding around the car to claim the spot. Kara considered protesting, but thought better of it, considering that she’d gotten in the way of their potential first kiss.

She slid into the back seat with Skye and Grant getting into theirs. As they drove off, Kara noticed the movement of Grant’s right arm and Skye’s left one. As she watched, they linked fingers and held onto each other’s hands tightly. Smiling, she raised her phone and took a picture of the hopeful scene.


	36. The Sunrise

Grant pulled up to a clearing near a river just as the sun was starting to rise. Skye, who was still awake, peered out the window to see the sunrise over the treetops.

“It’s beautiful out here.” She said breathlessly, nearly pressing her nose flat against the glass.

“The upside of severe isolation.” Grant dryly remarked. Skye turned to look at him with a slightly confused expression.

“I was trying to see this place as it is, not as it was.” She muttered, frowning.

“Whatever.” He got out of the car, slamming the door and striding away in a sulk.

 _Wow, what’s your problem?_ Skye thought. Shaking her head, and thinking that he needed some time to lose some steam, she got out of the car. “Kara!” she said loudly, opening the back door. “Kara, wake up, we’re here.”

“Hm wha?” Kara slurred as she stirred. “Skye?”

“Morning, Sleepyhead.” Skye laughed. “Get up, we’re here.”

Kara struggled out of the car in her half-awake state, getting to her feet with a little bit of a sway. Blinking in the bright sunlight, she looked confused as she glanced around the clearing. “Where’s Grant?”

“I think this place makes him grumpy.” Skye answered her, moving further away as she paid closer attention to the details, from the flowers in the grass to the squirrels in the trees.

“Probably cause of Garrett.” Kara said, rubbing her eyes.

“Probably.” Skye agreed. “I mentioned that it was beautiful out here, and all he said was ‘the upside of severe isolation.’” She stopped in the middle of the clearing, clenching her hands into fists as she considered something.

“Poor Grant…Garrett really did a number on him.”

“Yeah.” Skye turned around to face Kara, her mind almost made up. “Grant walked off that way,” she pointed to the trees on the other side of the sedan. “We should give him some space.”

Kara nodded, finally feeling like she was mostly awake. “So where’s the safe house? Some sort of cabin?” she started moving away from the car.

“Wait!” Skye panicked momentarily. “I, um…” Taking a slow, deep breath, she calmed herself before she lost control. “I want to try something.”

“Okay.” Kara turned to face her, unfreezing from the position she was in when Skye called out. “What do you want to try?”

“It’s something that’s…kind of weird. And, it’s…” Skye stuttered out, clearly overwhelmingly nervous.

“Skye!” Kara got her attention easily. “Just relax and tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Okay, um…” Skye took another deep breath. “This-what I want to do is why Simmons did what she did. Ever since San Juan, I’ve been feeling like I have a swarm of bees inside me. And they’re moving, always moving. And…I can make things shake, so…”

“You’re powered.” Kara clicked. “The little earthquakes that happened when you got upset. That’s why you ran from S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Worry plastered all over her face, Skye nodded. “They tried to get it out of me. Like I was cursed.” She shook her head. “But I’m not, am I?” she asked pleadingly.

“No, Skye.” Kara said softly. “Your powers are a part of you, and that’s nothing to be ashamed or afraid of.”

Relief blossomed on Skye’s features. “So what I wanted to try was if I could push the bees out.”

Kara pursed her lips as she considered why Skye was feeling abuzz. “Skye, have you thought about why you have these bees?”

“My powers.” She replied. “How else?”

“Yes, but,” Kara wondered how to say it. “Everything has a rate of frequency and vibration. It’s how sonar works, and how the Earth feels like it’s still when he know that it speeds around the sun.”

“So you’re saying that I’m feeling my own frequency?”

“Yes! You’re not yet adapted to it, so it feels…”

“Prominent?” Skye supplied, a small smile on her face.

“Yeah. And I think the reason you can cause earthquakes is because you can feel the vibrations of the earth. When you’re upset, you subconsciously reach out to those vibrations.”

“Okay.” Skye breathed. “So I’ll try to consciously reach out.” Without wanting to wait and become more anxious, she closed her eyes and spread her arms wide to give a sense of stability. Slowly, she opened the walls she’d tightly woven around herself, and tentatively felt for the vibrations of the earth.


	37. Feel Inside

Kara watched in awe as Skye tested out her ability. She stood with her arms stretched out for balance, her eyes closed and slowly, a glorious smile spread over her face.

“How do you feel?” she asked after a minute.

“Incredible.” Skye breathed, opening her eyes. “I can feel everything, and it’s like the bees just fade away.”

Kara grinned. “Can you tell the difference between things?”

“Trees and grass are easy. But the really small things like the flowers in the grass are kinda hard to pick out.” Skye replied as she lowered her arms. Standing up straighter, she looked around to her left. “There’s a cabin over that way.” She said, pointing. “It’s small, though.”

“I don’t think Grant intended it to be for more than himself.” Kara suggested as she walked over to Skye. “It’s not like Garrett stayed here, right?”

“Maybe, but he would have to be here enough to have Grant trust him.”

“True.” Kara mused. Both she and Skye moved towards where Skye said the cabin was, taking in the scenery as they went. It wasn’t too far, and the women emerged from the cover of the trees to see the small shack, falling apart from neglect and the elements.

“Kara.” Skye said seriously, stopping at once. “Is that a skeleton?”

Kara stopped as well, looking at the steps in front of the cabin. “Yeah…of a dog, I think.” She moved closer, crouching down next to it. “Poor thing was shot.”

“Where?” Skye asked, crouching next to Kara.

“In the chest, most likely.” Kara looked at Skye. “Shot and left to suffer.” She whispered in a horrified voice.

Something clicked in Skye’s head. “Kara, you don’t think that maybe this was Grant’s dog?”

Kara frowned. “I don’t think he mentioned having a dog.”

“Well, it’s on Grant’s cabin, and it just looks like it’s lying there. Not like it was shot here.”

“So it got shot, and limped back here?” Kara raised an eyebrow.

“It came here because this is its home. And then he couldn’t go anywhere, and Grant wasn’t here to help.” Skye looked next to the steps and noticed something metal, half-buried in the dirt. “What’s this?” she muttered, pulling it out.

“A dog tag?” Kara questioned.

Skye turned the tag over and brushed off the layer of filth. “’Buddy’” she read. “That definitely sounds like something Grant would name his dog.”

“You should take that to him.” Kara said, nodding in the direction of Grant. “If this is really his dog, we should make it easy on him.”

“Okay.” Skye stood. “You should check out what needs fixing in there.” She pointed at the cabin as Kara also stood. “Maybe we can enlarge it, if it’s too small for the three of us.” Waiting until Kara nodded her assent, Skye then moved back the way she came.


	38. Making New Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4th of July, lovely readers!

Skye found Grant sitting on a small outcropping of rock on a bend in the river. He was side on to her as she approached, but didn’t acknowledge her presence until she stood behind him.

“Maybe it was a mistake coming here.” He said eventually. His voice was sullen and just loud enough for Skye to hear.

“Because you don’t want to face your past?” she asked softly. He nodded, sighing.

“I’m trying to move forward. And coming here, to where Garrett left me to rot…”

“It’s difficult.” Skye said, moving to sit next to him, albeit facing the other way. “I get that. But Grant,” she reached out to gently direct his face to look at her. “How you feel about your past is what directs your actions. You don’t want to be controlled like that again. So you won’t. All the stuff you’ve seen and done shows you exactly what you _don’t_ want to be.”

He looked at her with immense sadness and pain in his eyes. “All the good memories I have here are overshadowed with lies and manipulation. Buddy was the one person I trusted completely, even though he was a dog, and he’s gone.”

Skye smiled sympathetically. “So make new memories. Now. With _us_.” She held out the dog tag for him to see. “Accept the past, and put it to rest.”

As soon as his eyes lit upon the tag, Grant’s breath hitched. “Buddy.” He whispered, taking the tag from her with shaking fingers. “Where was this?” he glanced up at her.

“I found it in the dirt by the cabin steps. I thought you should know before you…see the rest.”

“The rest?” his voice shook with his hand, and he clenched his fist around the tag to still the tremors. “The rest of Buddy is by the cabin?”

“Yeah.” Skye twirled around so she was facing the same direction as Grant. “But think of it this way.” She said, laying her head on his shoulder. “You can give him a proper burial and regale me and Kara with the stuff you two got up to in these woods.” She smiled when he laid his head on top of hers. Slowly, Grant lowered his hand.

“What, like raiding other cabins?”

Skye snorted. “You really think I’ll be judgmental about stealing? How do you think I got by in that van?”

“You didn’t nick gas, did you?” Grant frowned.

“No.” she laughed. “That’s the one thing I never stole. They have a CCTV guarantee policy. And I _lived_ with that number plate.”

This had Grant chuckling. Raising his head, he looked directly at her. “I’ll try it.” When Skye raised her head to send him a look of confusion, he clarified. “The new memories thing.”

“Oh.” she said breathlessly.

Leaning in, Grant raised his free hand to cup Skye’s face. To his immense relief, she was mirroring his actions, and their lips met.


	39. The Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I was rather sick.  
> This is also a bit short, but I might put up the next chapter later on today.

Grant felt like his heart could explode. Kara was right! Skye felt enough love for him to kiss him back, and it was the single happiest memory of his life.

The kiss was different from the ones they’d shared months ago. Sure, there was still uncertainty about their future, but they had promised themselves to never turn their backs on each other again. This time, it was soft and slow and sweet. Both of them were tentative about sharing the depth of their feelings with one another, but when neither of them moved to pull away, the kiss deepened.

Skye’s left hand grabbed hold of the front of Grant’s shirt, gripping it tightly in her bunched fist. Her other hand reached up to cup the side of Grant’s face, caressing his cheek gently. Grant more than happily wound his arm around Skye’s waist and pulled her onto his lap, his muscles taut as he held her flush against his body. Skye pushed at him until he lay back on the rock, her on top as she straddled his hips.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, they pulled apart. Panting a little from the joy of succumbing to their initial desire, they grinned delightedly at each other.

“Wow.” Skye breathed, elated.

Grant chuckled, reaching for another kiss, this time a peck. “I’d like to do that more often.”

Skye kissed him again. “Me too.”


	40. Not Quite In The Clear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As kind of promised, the next chapter up today :)

Kara found that the back of the cabin was the most rotten, and the entire structure was a simple box design. A low wooden bed was built into the front left side from entering, and a small cupboard lay at the back, reaching from the floor to the ceiling.

She also noted that the temperature wasn’t much higher than outside. _It’d be no better than sleeping in a tent, only it might take more than a breeze to blow it off the ground._

Checking in the cupboard revealed an old shovel and tin bucket. _Wow, a tin bucket?_ Kara wondered. _Where did he get this stuff?_ The shovel could be useful for burying Buddy, granted that the handle wasn’t too rotten as well, so she pulled it out and went outside.

She’d only just stepped out the door when she heard a faint sound from the sky. Retreating back under cover, she cautiously glanced up. For a moment, she was utterly confused. She could swear that she heard a faint whirring, yet there was nothing but birds for miles.

 _Wait…_ Kara’s eyes narrowed as she focused on an area of blue sky above the trees far to her left. _Yes, I thought so. Cloaked. Dammit, Coulson._ She hoped like hell that neither Skye and Grant nor herself had been spotted. To her relief, the aircraft, revealed to be quinjet, uncloaked and flew west.

Relaxing her tense muscles, she breathed out slowly. “It’s okay, Kara. They didn’t see us.” She repeated to herself. This continued for a few minutes until she heard laughter. Looking up, she spotted Skye and Grant walking back from wherever he had sulked off to. They were hand in hand, Skye using her other hand to soothingly stroke Grant’s arm.

He had a smile on his face, and was actually _laughing_. Kara had never heard him so happy before. He glanced up once, smiled at Kara, then dropped his gaze to the skeleton at her feet, the joy draining from his face. His free hand clenched as he stopped at the edge of the trees.

Concern seemed to be second nature to Skye. Either she was smiling with Grant, or she was comforting him and vice versa. She stopped a step out from Grant and moved back to him, placing her hand on his cheek, whispering soft words before placing a gentle kiss on his lips. He bowed his head and nodded.

Kara moved down the steps, carefully skirting the dog, and stood waiting for the couple to arrive. They slowly made their way over, Skye clutching his hand like a lifeline.


	41. Buddy's Funeral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was difficult to write. Hope I did it justice!

Skye gently led Grant over to the remains of Buddy. His breathing was slightly irregular as they neared Kara, and Skye could swear that she saw tears glisten in his eyes. She chose not to push it, though.

“Grant.” Kara said softly as they got within close earshot. She held out the shovel. “Time to put him to rest, don’t you think?”

Sadness holding his shoulders down like a burden, Grant nodded. His hands slightly shaking, he reached out and took the shovel from her, dropping it down to his side.

“Where do you want to bury him?” Skye asked, her hand on his back. Grant looked around before picking a patch of blue flowers and clovers in the grass.

“Over there.” He said quietly, then walked over, flanked by the two women.

They remained silent during the dig, only making noise when they were adjusting their positions on the ground. Grant was thankful for the peaceful support. Their presence meant that the heart-wrenching burden of having to bury Buddy was so much easier to bear.

It took him half an hour to dig a hole deep enough, and Grant found himself in the awkward position of trying to find a way to carry the skeleton over to the hole without it falling apart. Seeing his dilemma, Kara hurried inside and came back a minute later holding an old, moth-eaten blanket to wrap Buddy in.

“Here.” She held the blanket out to Grant, and he took it gratefully.

With Skye’s help, Grant gently lifted the skeleton off the ground just enough to move it onto the blanket. Then each of them took hold of a corner (or in Grant’s case, two), and slowly brought Buddy over to the grave.

Grant had to take a moment to keep his tears at bay while Skye and Kara hugged him tightly. He didn’t know if it made it easier or harder to hide the depth of his turbulent emotions, but he appreciated the comfort.

As he took a deep breath, they broke apart and each reached for their corners of the blanket. Gently, they lowered him into the grave. The girls took a few steps back and allowed Grant his space while he moved the dug up dirt back on top of Buddy. He kept his breaths long and deep, and although they shuddered a bit in his chest, it helped him. It took him several minutes to completely fill in the hole and solidly pat back down the blocks of grass he’d carefully removed.

“Now what?” he asked. “I don’t know what happens at funerals.”

Skye moved over to stand beside him, and held out the dog tag and a small stick. “Mark the grave.” She said, watching his face with care. “If you come back, you’ll be able to find it again.”

Grant managed a smile as he took the tag and stick. “Thank you. But these won’t last long.”

“So look for a decent size rock later and drill a hole into it.” she replied. “For the sake of ceremony, these will do for now.”

He nodded, kissed Skye on her left cheek, and knelt to place the items in the middle. Standing back up, he turned to Skye again. “Is that it?”

She smiled. “Now you say a few words. A memory, how you feel, a thank you.”

“Okay, um,” Grant breathed deeply and began a stuttering ramble. “Buddy, I…I’m sorry you died and I never came back. I left because of Garrett, but…if it wasn’t for Garrett, I suppose I never would have met you.” He glanced at Skye with his eyebrows raised in the question _Am I doing this right?_ She smiled encouragingly and nodded. “I…thanks for being a dog, and being loyal.” He half-laughed, the sound filled with sad nostalgia. “You would always run off whenever I took a shot out here. You kept me warm and feeling safe when I had no food or shelter after Garrett left me here. I wish you were alive long enough to see me again.” Grant’s head bowed as more tears threatened to fall. “I miss you, Buddy. You would’ve loved Kara and Skye.” At the end of this he turned and pulled Skye into a hug, letting his head drop onto her shoulder as he finally allowed the tears to stream down his face.


	42. Travel Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This kinda got away from me.

Grant felt like his heart had literally been crushed. He’d always expected to outlive Buddy, but what he hadn’t counted on was Garrett wounding him and leaving him to die alone while Grant could never go back to see him. Now, Buddy was finally laid to rest. Grant didn’t expect it to hurt this much.

“I don’t feel better.” He whispered into Skye’s shoulder. “I thought this was supposed to help.”

“It will.” Skye promised him. She tightened her arms around his body. “I promise it will, it just takes a little time. You’ve only just buried him. Tomorrow you’ll feel a little better, and the day after a little more.”

Kara watched this whole exchange, feeling both happy and sad for her two best friends. However, she still worried about the quinjet. _Surely they would’ve seen the sedan, at least?_

“You did the right thing for him.” Skye continued. “That _matters_.”

Grant nodded and pulled away, straightening up and turning to Kara. “Thank you.” He said sincerely. “Both of you.”

The girls smiled proudly back at him. Kara decided that now was the time to bring up the quinjet.

“Did either of you notice a quinjet earlier?”

Both Skye and Grant looked at her, confused. “No.” Grant said slowly. “Even if there was, it would’ve been cloaked. How could we have noticed it?”

“I heard a faint whirring sound while I was checking out the cabin, and then it materialised and flew west.”

Skye caught on quickly, her eyes widening. “They expect us to stay.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. just doesn’t understand the concept of personal space.” Grant grumbled.

“How long before they come back with reinforcements?” Kara asked.

“Where’s The Playground?” he asked Skye.

“A few states over.” She replied.

“Which means we can’t stay here tonight.” He said flatly, obviously pissed off.

“Will we have to go further north?” Kara asked with trepidation.

Grant picked up on her hesitation. “No, I have a small safe house in Cortez. From there we can go to one Garrett took particular care of in New Mexico.”

“Cortez?” Kara frowned in puzzlement. “Where’s that, exactly?”

“South-western corner of Colorado.” Skye answered her. At Grant’s raised eyebrows she shrugged. “I detoured while on my way to LA.”

“From _Texas._ ”

“Yeah. It’s not like I needed to book motels or anything, and when else was I gonna get the time to see Albuquerque, Denver and Las Vegas?”

Kara and Grant shared a look. _That’s Skye._ they seemed to say to each other.


	43. On The Road...Again

Kara thought that it seemed to be theme for them, road tripping. Like it wasn’t the right time to settle down for any of them. Or maybe that was just S.H.I.E.L.D. and its bruised ego.

 _In any case,_ she mused, watching Skye and Grant quietly banter in the front seat. _We need a fresh place to start._

She had taken up the entirety of the back seat, one leg propped up on the leather, the other dangling onto the floor of the sedan. It was quite comfortable, considering they’d been driving for a few hours already. Although the comfort could quite easily be contributed to the wad of pillows she’d stuffed under her back.

Bored for the moment, she checked her phone for the time. 12:45pm. _Time for lunch_. She thought, glancing to the front. A smirk crossed her lips as she realised the perfect opportunity she had. Unlocking the phone, she accessed the camera feature and quickly took a snapshot of Grant and Skye giggling, holding hands and watching each other with the most loving expressions.

 _Interesting. If this were anyone else, I’d probably feel nauseous._ Kara observed as she swiped through her photo gallery. _I need more Skyeward photos._ She grouched.

“Kara?” Grant calling her name drew her out of her moody ministrations. “You alright?” he glanced at her repeatedly in the rear-view mirror as he drove.

“Yeah, why?” she feigned nonchalance. Of course she knew why he was asking.

“You just suddenly seemed a bit unhappy, that’s all.” He replied, obviously worried.

 _Skye, you have no idea how lucky you are to have won his heart!_ “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just S.H.I.E.L.D. finding us in the middle of Yellowstone, that’s all.”

“It is weird how they did that.” Skye agreed, frowning. “You don’t think they put a tracker on me, do you?”

“It would’ve shown up when the hospital checked you.” Grant assured her. “They may have access to military satellites, courtesy of General Talbot.”

“Right.” The girls chorused in resigned monotone.

“How far to Cortez?” Skye asked almost immediately, changing the topic to the gratitude of Grant and Kara.

“We’re not even in Colorado yet, Skye.” Grant chuckled. “We’ll get there tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t tell me you’re driving through the night again.” Skye scolded. “You did that last night. You need to sleep.”

“I’ll be fine, Skye. Trained specialist, remember?”

“For combat, not driving across America!” She retorted.

Kara laughed quietly to herself as the bickering continued. “Guys!” she cut in, halting their conversation midway. “I’ll sleep now, and _I’ll_ drive overnight. Deal?”

“Deal.” Skye agreed at the same time as Grant protested.

“No deal! You did the same thing!”

“Out of the two of us, I slept most recently.” Kara stated. “Stop trying to take everything on your own shoulders.”

“I’m not–”

“You are, Grant.” Skye softly interrupted him. “Let Kara drive.”

“But–”

“Would you rather I drive overnight?”

“No!”

“Then we’re settled.” Skye said smugly, sitting back and winking at Kara as Grant spluttered for a reason elsewise.


	44. Their First Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intend for Grant to get so mad, but my muse apparently thought that he would kind of lose control that she doesn't trust him as much as he thought she did.

Skye had been growing more and more nervous with each passing mile. Ever since Kara had mentioned the ease with which S.H.I.E.L.D. had found them in the middle of the Wyoming wilderness, she been increasingly worried that Simmons had tagged her when the scientist injected the serum into her bloodstream.

Kara had fallen asleep in the back seat an hour ago, so the only one to notice her change in demeanour was Grant.

“Skye.” he murmured, careful to not wake Kara. “What are you worried about?”

Skye clenched her jaw before answering in the same quiet tone. “Nothing.”

“Skye.” he said more firmly. “You’ve been tensing up for the past couple of hours, and you keep twisting your fingers around each other.” Despite herself, Skye glanced down, only confirming what Grant had said. “What’s wrong?”

“I just…” her voice trembled. “I’m scared that Simmons did more than try to take away–” she stopped before she rambled on. Grant looked at her curiously.

“What did Simmons try to take away?”

“Um…oh Kara saw anyway…” she whispered. “She tried to take away my powers. There. I said it.”

Grant stayed silent.

“And now you think I’m crazy.”

“No.” Grant hurried to prove otherwise. He laughed, but it sounded a little forced. “Skye, we live in a world where suddenly everyone know that aliens exist. Some of them were Norse gods. Some of the artefacts we found pulled old memories to the surface, while others read DNA and kill you if you’re not what it’s looking for. You discovering powers…it’s not that far-fetched.”

Skye turned her head to face him, trying to read the expressions on his face. “Are you mad?”

“Of course I’m mad.” He gritted his teeth as he said this.

“Why?” she asked, thoroughly confused.

“Because you didn’t tell me this from the beginning!”

Skye’s jaw dropped in shock. “You said yourself that I could take my time in telling you what had happened!”

“That was when I thought that you ran because it was something you did! That I can understand. Why would I jump to the conclusion that you ran because of what you are? Because that was a really stupid move, Skye!”

“What?” she breathed, tears glistening in her eyes. In the back seat, Kara stirred, but wisely didn’t move a muscle. “You-you want me to go _back_?” she stuttered out as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“What’s the point of running from something that’s always with you?”

“I ran from what _Simmons_ had become, not from what _I_ am!” she yelled. “I went to you because you were the only person I could turn to!”

“So you could trust me with your life, but you couldn’t trust me with that?” Grant scoffed. “That really fills me with joy.”

“The last people to find out tried to destroy me!” Skye screamed in his face. Furious, she lifted up her shirt so both Grant and Kara could see the wound on her torso. “I was in _agony_ , and I thought they were trying to make me die! So I cut myself open to make it go faster, and they just tried to stitch it up! _That’s_ when I ran!”

Trying to rein in his anger, Grant gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “If you were trying to die, why did you let Kara stitch your wound?”

Spitefully, Skye spat out her next words. “I don’t know.”

This time, Grant had to grit his teeth to control the waves of fury. “So you didn’t tell us because you thought we were like them? Like S.H.I.E.L.D.? They’ve made it very clear that I’m not one of them anymore.”

Skye slumped back in her seat, her anger evaporating as her weariness from earlier returned. “No. I trust you more than I do them.” She swallowed her fear down as another thought came to her. “But even if you want me to leave, I can’t go back to them.”

Breathing out slowly, Grant waited several moments before quietly answering. “I don’t want you to leave, Skye. I just want you to trust me. And I want to trust you.”


	45. The Aftermath

Grant had a feeling that he was overreacting to Skye’s confession, but he was finding it difficult to care very much about that fact. He didn’t want to alienate her, especially so soon after getting her back, but the lack of trust she had in him grated on his nerves.

 _It’s not like I would’ve sent her away, or back to S.H.I.E.L.D. when I found out…oh, that’s probably exactly what she thinks._ He internally groaned and cast a glance at Skye, who was determinately not looking in his direction. The disapproving look Kara was sending his way was not helping his morale. _God, I need to fix this._

“Skye.” he softly began, watching her closely. She flinched a little when he spoke. _Ouch._ “Skye, can we please talk this through without screaming at each other? I don’t want to say anything I’ll regret.” His fingers clenched on the steering wheel as he anticipated an angry outburst.

Surprisingly, her voice was quiet. “I think we’ve said enough to each other for now.”

Grant heard Kara suck in a breath. _Oh, I am in so much trouble._ He tried again.

“I don’t want this to simmer, Skye.”

“Then why did you get all pissed off in the first place?”

She still wasn’t looking at him. Grant wondered how much grovelling he would have to do. He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “Because…I didn’t like the fact that you didn’t trust me as much as I thought you did.”

Skye was silent for a heartbeat. “I was _desperate_ for help after being literally burned by people I thought I could trust. Beyond what was necessary, how much did you expect there to be?” Grant opened his mouth to respond, but she continued, cutting him off. “Don’t answer that, it was rhetorical.” Once again, she lapsed into silence.

Grant didn’t know what to say, so he focused on the road ahead and kept driving.


	46. Playing The Mediator

Kara internally winced as Skye got out of the car as soon as Grant pulled up outside the tiny house, slamming the door as she went. Grant sighed, sounding defeated, and slumped forward in his seat.

“You were rather insensitive towards her.” she said before she followed Skye. At first she found it a little difficult to move normally, as the ground was shaking slightly, but she quickly got her bearings. She saw Skye disappear inside through the front door, and hurried after her, catching the door before it swung shut completely.

“Skye?” she called out, pausing just past the threshold. Glancing back, she glimpsed Grant locking the sedan. She turned back and followed the sound of soft crying, rounding the corner to the one bedroom in the building. Skye sat against the wall on the right side, her legs curled up and her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her head rested on her knees as her body shook with sobs.

“Skye, I’m sure your pain and recent trauma is making you overreact to what Grant said.” she began softly, padding quietly over to where the girl was sitting.

Skye stopped her from saying anymore by raising her head and looking at her with a teary and hurt expression. “Overreact?” she said brokenly. “Grant doesn’t _want_ me here.”

“Of _course_ he wants you here, Skye.” Kara stated more firmly. “After all the mess with S.H.I.E.L.D. like him betraying you, breaking your heart, you shooting him, breaking his heart, etcetera, he took you in when you turned up at our motel room. He got you clothes, and hygiene items and helped you heal. He stayed by your side when you were in the hospital.” She took a breath and continued. “I think he just assumed that you coming to him after what happened last time you were together meant that you trusted him.”

“Doesn’t he get that I had nothing when I found you?” Skye sobbed.

“Yeah.” Kara nodded, pulling the girl in for a hug. “After you screamed it in his face, he probably understood.” She smiled when she heard Skye let out a little laugh. “Grant’s coming in now. Do you want to talk to him, or have some more time to yourself?”

“I want some more time.” she whispered. Kara nodded in understanding and helped her to her feet.

“I’ll talk to him.” Kara said, leaving the bedroom and pulling Grant down the hallway as she went.

“I’m trying to fix something here!” he protested, yanking his hand out of her grasp and trying to turn back the way they’d came.

“Then give her her space.” Kara replied. She reached for his arm again and continued pulling him away. Behind him, she saw Skye slip out the bedroom and out the back door.

“What do you mean? I can’t leave this to get worse!”

“If you say the wrong thing, you’ll make it worse.” she countered, pulling him into the kitchen and dining room. “I need to know that you really do understand what it was that made her upset.”

“That’s why you dragged me away?” he asked, dropping into a seat that Kara pulled out from the table.

“That, and that fact that neither of you had room to breathe after your little fight.” She sat down next to him. “She thinks that you don’t want her here.”

“What? Of course I want her here! With me! I said as much!”

“I know that. But considering what S.H.I.E.L.D. put her through _when she trusted them completely_ , it was a bit naïve of you to think that she would trust _you_ right off the bat.”

Grant winced. “You’re being a bit harsh.”

“I’m being a bit realistic. There can’t be secrets and serious doubt between you, or your relationship just isn’t going to work.” She cocked her head to one side. “Or was I reading too much into the hand holding at the clearing?”

He chuckled lightly. “No, we’d just…started to see if we could make it work.” He groaned and dragged a hand over his face. “But we had our first fight less than a day in.”

“What that tells me is that you care. Both of you. You were both hurt, and you both want comforting. So knowing that, go and talk to her. Comfort her and let her comfort you.” She shoved at his shoulder affectionately. “Go on.”


	47. A Better Discussion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This felt weird. Like I went a bit out of character to explain what Kara did wrong.

Skye slipped out the back door while Kara had Grant’s attention, and strode to the tree at the back of the property. Turning around to face the house as she reached it, she leaned back and slid to the ground. Her legs seemed to curl up of their own accord, and Skye released a despairing sigh as she dropped her head to rest on her knees again.

She sat like this for a few minutes, getting more wound up, before she heard soft footsteps approaching.

“Skye?” Grant said. He sounded upset, and this more than anything else caused Skye to lift her head to look at him. His face showed concern, panic and a hint of hope. “I’m sorry if what I said caused you to think that I don’t want you around, because of course I do, I love you, and…oh, I’m really bad at these kinds of things…” he trailed off, running one hand through his hair. Skye just watched him.

“I’m sorry for what I said.” She eventually said. Her voice was quiet, but it got his attention immediately. “I do know why I let Kara stich me up. I’d hoped that you’d learned from what you did, and that I could trust you again, at some point.”

Grant stood a foot away from her, silently contemplating what she had just said. “Do you trust me now?” he asked after a minute.

“I trust you more than a few days ago.” she replied. “But I want to trust you completely, so I don’t want to rush this and realise that I’ve made mistakes that could have been avoided.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. I suppose the same should be said for me, but I tend to either trust entirely or not at all.”

“We’ll work on that.” Skye patted the ground next to her, and Grant moved to sit down. “What did Kara say to you?”

“That you were worried about me not wanting you to stay – which will never be true,” he stressed the last few words, causing Skye to smile fondly. “That she pulled me away to give you some breathing space.” He faltered a little. “Did that work? I mean, did go looking for you too soon? I should’ve waited–”

“Grant.” She cut him off gently. “You’re adorable when you worry like this. But honestly, giving myself time to overthink things, especially so soon after Simmons…it wasn’t doing me any good.” She shook her head. “Kara’s sweet and helpful and a great friend, and I love that she respects my feelings–”

“More than she does mine.” He muttered.

“So talk to her about that. But my point is, I think that she could ease back on how much advice she gives. We’ve been so selfish thinking that we are the only problems, but she’s still dealing with the brainwashing.” Pursing her lips, she looked into Grant’s eyes. “She doesn’t know how to handle things like this properly. She said some things she shouldn’t have, stuff that she wasn’t involved with much. She’s very blunt about how much we’ve hurt each other.”

“She probably just wants to numb the pain of it, but it’s the wrong way of going about it.”

“It’s the past, we’ve learned from it, and it’s over now.” Skye agreed. “We should tell her to let that go. Right?”

“Sure.” Grant nodded. “I mean, her heart’s in the right place.”

“Yeah.” Skye murmured, finally leaning against Grant’s shoulder. Happily, he raised his arm to lay across hers.


	48. Time Alone

Grant felt like today was both a success and a failure. A success because he and Skye had gotten through their first fight as a couple and were going steady. A failure because Kara had not taken well to being asked to mind what she says about certain subjects.

Skye tightened her hold around his waist and he looked down to where her head was resting on his chest. She was looking back at him, her head propped up on her chin.

“You’re overthinking it, Grant.” She whispered. Groaning, Grant refocused on the ceiling.

“She was really upset.”

“Because she thought that we didn’t appreciate her efforts to help us reconcile.” She gently blew at his face when he didn’t respond. “We had to let her know that there are some things that she is obligated to know of, but shouldn’t talk about unless one of us brings it up. I don’t think she’d want to be told months later after doing that for so long.”

“Has she come to that conclusion now?” he asked quietly.

“Maybe not.”

“Then we shouldn’t let it simmer.” He tried to get up, only Skye wouldn’t relinquish her grip. “Skye.” he said flatly.

“Give her some space.”

“You said that didn’t help you.”

“I figured that out for myself. Kara needs to do the same. She is her own person, and we are helping her find herself. Telling her who she is is only going to confuse her if she finds something that conflicts with what she believed about herself.”

With a sigh, Grant fell back onto the bed. “You’re stubborn.”

“Always.” she snarked with a small grin. “We can wait until she stops crying, okay?”


	49. Late Night Making Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a few days, but I've been busy, and not at home, and starting semester.  
> It's not very long, but it should straighten a few things out.

Kara sniffled as she tried to ease up her crying. Skye and Grant telling her that she should be careful about what topics she talks about was a huge shock, and had her running out of the room in tears.

Sitting up on the floor in the one empty room in the house, Kara tipped her head back to stem the flow. She blinked several times, finally able to clear up her gaze and let out a shaky breath. Now that she was quieter, she could hear Skye and Grant murmuring upstairs, and felt angry at being left alone.

 _Kara, be fair._ she scolded herself. _You were the one to run out._ “And maybe they’re making their point.” she said softly. She closed her eyes only to open them quickly when she heard the sound of creaky boards from the floor above.

“Kara?” Skye’s soft voice drifted in through the slightly open door. “Do you wanna talk?”

“Yeah.” she croaked, hurriedly clearing her throat. “Yeah.” She repeated the word, sounding clearer. Skye pushed the door open more, allowing Kara to see both her and Grant’s silhouettes in the dim hallway light.

“We’re sorry we upset you.” Skye said timidly as she crept in.

“We just thought that we should be clear about what we’re comfortable with. There’s no need to repeat mistakes.” Grant said this a little louder, but the caring sincerity was as obvious in his tone as Skye’s was.

“I get that.” Kara whispered. “I just assumed that you’d want me to play mediator.” She laughed, her eyes still wet with tears. “You both wanted to talk, and yet also didn’t at the same time.”

“You don’t have to.” Skye sat in front of Kara, crossing her legs and leaning forward. “Have all the answers, I mean.” she added when Kara raised a questioning brow at her. “It’s okay to just let things lay where they fall.”

“You wanted to keep fighting?” she asked, confused.

“No…I mean that sometimes you should allow us to sort out the problems that we create. Give your thoughts when asked for, but stay out of the problem. If you take a side, or try to side with both of us on the issue–”

“Then it could make it worse all round.” Grant finished for her, sitting beside both of them. “And the last thing you need is alienation from us when we’re too angry to care enough about our actions.”

“Okay.” Kara murmured. She nodded absently. “That makes sense.” Grant cracked a grin when both girls yawned at precisely the same time. “Maybe we should go to bed.”

“Yeah.” Skye tiredly laughed. “Oh, wait. There’s only one bed.”

“We can all share. It’s a double.” Grant suggested, standing up and offering them a hand each. They took them and got to their feet, a little unsteady. “We’ll be off first thing in the morning anyway.”


	50. Well, This Is A Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of light-hearted fluff before the plot picks up again.  
> And woo! We're on the 50th chapter :)

Skye woke up dizzily. Her head was hanging over the edge of the bed, her legs sprawled across the mattress with one under Kara and the other over Grant. Sleepily bringing her head up was a challenge, but she managed to get a look at the other two while they still slept. She would have giggled if she didn’t feel so weird.

Her leg on Grant was her left one, crossing directly over his groin, while his legs were at odd angles. His right was bent, the knee pointing towards the top corner of the bed, and the left was stuck straight out in the other direction. Kara was also lying on that, her torso covering the limbs, but Skye’s leg was pressing against her breasts. A glance back at Grant had her focusing on his head. It was pushed up against the headboard, looking like it would give him a sore neck when he woke, and his face was angled to the right slightly, almost touching the pillow.

A groan brought Skye’s attention back to Kara, who was stirring. A yawn later, Kara started pushing herself to her hands and knees, tucking her left leg in from dangling off the edge. Her sleep-filled eyes blinked wearily as she began to make sense of her surroundings, and her gaze fell upon Skye watching her, a little more awake then herself.

Glancing at the state of their sleeping positions, she looked back at Skye. “I swear we went to sleep lying in a row.”

“Yeah…ah!” Skye nodded, then the pain from holding her head up made her drop it back down again.

“Sore neck?” Kara asked, stifling another yawn.

“Uh-huh.” Skye agreed, leaving her head where it was. “You still sound really tired, though. What time is it?”

“Please tell me its early morning.” Kara moaned, checking her watch. “Ah, yes. Half-past two.” She sighed in relief.

“Of course it’s early.” Skye muttered, mostly to herself. “Grant’s usually up before anyone,” she glanced over to the man in question as she sat up, grunting with the effort. “And he’s still snoring like a baby.”

“A greedy baby.” Kara rose to her knees and started shuffling back up the mattress. “The jerk’s taken the middle of the bed. I don’t wanna look like his mistress.”

“Who’s gonna see us?”

“I am! And I find it weird…he’s family, but he’s brotherly family.” Kara shuddered at the thought. “It’s you two who’re the turtledoves.”

“So we’re going from chosen family to birds?” Skye asked, half-amused. She got off the bed and grabbed Grant’s leg. “Grab his other one.” She told Kara, indicating the other lower limb. “He’s gonna insist on driving and he can’t really do that comfortably with a crick neck.”

“Sure.” Kara took hold of Grant’s left leg. “One, two, three!” On the third count, the girls pulled, successfully yanking the heavyweight down the bed enough so that his head lay properly on the pathetic excuse for a pillow. “Wow.” She looked at Skye dramatically. “He didn’t even wake up.”

In their exhausted states, the girls somehow found that extremely funny, falling onto their backsides as they collapsed with laughter.


	51. Back To Sleep

Grant stirred as the girl’s hilarity reached a higher pitch than they could contain. “Hm wha?” he mumbled, getting both Skye and Kara’s attention.

“Hey Grant.” Skye said softly, crawling onto the bed. “D’you mind moving over?”

“Why? What’s wrong?” He blinked, trying to bring Skye into focus. “I didn’t kick you off the bed, did I?”

“No, no. That’s not it.” Skye assured him as she attempted to contain her giggles.

“What? Skye, you could’ve messed with him!” Kara complained, causing both Skye and Grant to look at her with raised eyebrows. She shrugged. “So I’m in that kind of mood.”

“Anyway…” Skye looked back at her boyfriend. “We were finding it a tad uncomfortable down the end there, so could you move back to the side?”

“Ah, sure.” Grant grunted. He started inching his way over to his right, but Kara got impatient.

“Too slow.” She stated, pushing him over. He rolled onto his side, nearly falling off the edge. Skye wasn’t so lucky, toppling off as Grant’s body was shoved into her. She went sprawling on the floor, a shocked expression on her face. That shock morphed into a scowl as she fixed Kara with her unimpressed gaze.

“Not cool.” She claimed, getting to her feet.

“Yeah, do you mind?” Grant added, lifting his hips to lay his butt back on the bed. “I need to drive when we leave, so if you could let me sleep, that’d be great.” He didn’t wait around to see Skye and Kara give each other a ‘told-you-so’ look, instead closing his eyes and drifting back off to sleep.

“Mr I-have-trouble-sleeping.” Kara grumbled, throwing herself onto the empty space on the left side of the bed.

“Wow, you are in a mood.” Skye exaggerated her frown. “Nicknames are my thing.”

“Shut up and sleep.” The other woman grumbled from where her face was nearly smushed into the pillow.

“Why? Don’t want me to see you drool?” Skye teased. She crawled over Grant’s lump in the mattress and lay down next to him, using his chest as her pillow.

“I don’t drool.” She heard Kara whine as she felt sleep overcome her.


	52. Angry Reminiscing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to be even attempting to update everyday from now on. I have uni and a novel to work on, so this fic is going be more sporadic in its updates.

Kara was pleased when Grant woke up too tired to drive. Skye immediately nominated her, and neither girl allowed Grant to protest against it.

 _Besides,_ she thought with an amused yet fond glance in therear view mirror, _he needs some taking care of._

Skye glanced up at the same time from the back seat on the other side of the car from Kara. They shared a smile before Skye turned her gaze back down to a sleeping Grant, his head in her lap. She had her hand resting against his right cheek, gently stroking the two-day-old stubble.

“I’ve never seen him sleep this deeply.” Skye murmured. Kara only just caught the words.

“Maybe cause he was on his guard so much.” She whispered back. Her tone became teasing. “You never snuck a peek in his bunk while you were in the air?”

“No.” Skye answered like she’d never thought to do that. “He was my S.O. And he was a bit scary when he was pissed.”

“When did he get pissed?” Kara furrowed her brow.

“During a mission just after the whole Thor and other dimensions thing went on. Pieces of an Asgardian staff were being found across old lands the Vikings conquered.”

“Asgardian? Did Thor have anything to do with that?”

“No, but the timing does seem more than coincidental.” Skye mused. “Anyway, we were told about some vandalism in a Norwegian forest. A couple had cut down a tree based on an old legend, and found one of the pieces imbedded in the centre of the tree.”

“Why was it in pieces? If it was Asgardian, surely it would have been nearly indestructible.” Kara cast a worried glance at Grant’s reflection as she said this.

“An old warrior who taught history in a university in Seville. Middle aged by Asgardian standards, I suppose. Super old for us.”

“How’d you find that out? To go from a Norwegian forest to Spain…”

“He’d helped Coulson before, when Thor’s hammer crash landed in New Mexico. Coulson wanted help, and Professor Randolph was keen. Once he found out that another piece might also have been found, he went to fetch it. Problem was, Grant and I were in the tombs at the time, and Grant tried to take it from him.” She shook her head sadly as she recalled the torment that Grant went through.

“And then he got pissed?”

“Not immediately. It built up…he was more terrified in the beginning. The Berserker Staff makes you relive your worst memory, and for Grant, that was when his younger brother almost died in a well.”

Kara sighed, indicating left before pulling into a side street. “Yeah, he told me about that part. He also said that May held the staff after him, going through the same torture, but you all thought he was lying.”

Skye flinched at the sudden aggressiveness in Kara’s tone. “Yeah, we were wrong.” She muttered, swallowing. “Why are we stopping here?”

“I’m hungry, and maybe Grant can drive now. This is as far as his instructions go.” She got out without another word, Skye left feeling awful in the back seat.


	53. Backseat Comfort

_Skye?_ Grant thought, confused as he woke up in the back seat of the sedan. Blinking as the light pierced his pupils, he was both surprised and worried when he felt droplets of water hit his face.

“Skye?” he asked, focusing on her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She shook her head and wiped her face, but the tears still spilled out. “It’s just something I did a while back.”

“Doesn’t sound like nothing.” He stated as he slowly sat up, picking up on the shuddering sobs underlying her voice. “Did Kara say something again?” Skye nodded jerkily, causing Grant’s face to tighten in anger. “Skye, you shouldn’t pay attention when she–”

“But she was _right!_ ” she burst out, looking him directly in the eyes. “She was _right_ , and I shouldn’t have done what I did!”

Gritting his teeth, Grant tamped down his anger so it wouldn’t colour his voice. “The same scenario could be applied to me, Skye. You know that. Would you want me to wallow in what I know I can’t change?”

Skye sniffled, wiped away more tears and eventually shook her head. “It’s fine in theory, but I can’t help feeling upset about it.”

“It’s perfectly fine to feel remorseful.” He assured her. “I feel guilty every day for what I did, especially to Fitz, but right now my focus is you. I don’t want to mess up my chance with you by overthinking about every other time I’ve screwed up. Okay?”

“Okay.” She whispered, the tears starting to subside.

“And I think we’re going to have to talk to Kara again about taboo topics.” He said, placing a kiss on her forehead.

Skye giggled. “Did you just say ‘taboo’?”

Grant let the corner of his mouth pull up in amusement. “Ah, there’s a first time for everything.” Leaning down, he caught her lips in a kiss. “Let’s go before the tension gets worse.”

“Fine,” she assented. “But what if she does it again?”

“Then we keep telling her not to. She should get the hint, and adjust.” Reaching over, he opened the back door, and they both got out. “Huh.” He said as they turned to face the café. “Cosy.”

“No security cameras.” Skye pointed out. “I doubt S.H.I.E.L.D. would bother with a place like this.”

“Maybe.” Grant muttered, as he followed her inside.


	54. Here We Go Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe me, I did not mean to have this long between updates when I said they'd be sporadic. Enjoy!

Grant entered the café first, scanning the main room for both Kara and threats. Once he saw her, he led Skye over to the corner booth that Kara had occupied, and waved for the waitress. Skye followed Grant tentatively, nervous at Kara’s anger, which had obviously not faded since she left the car. She was sitting slumped over the table, glaring at the menu under her folded arms, and even the waitress seemed uncertain as to whether or not she should approach.

“Kara.” Grant said softly, yet firmly, as they walked within earshot.

“Don’t Kara me.” She snapped back. The waitress, waiting nervously, winced.

“Save that for some other time, Kara.” He continued in the same tone. Smiling apologetically at the waitress, whose nametag read ‘Shelly’, he addressed her politely. “Could we have some water, please?”

“Of course.” She murmured, casting a suspicious look at Skye as she slid into the booth next to Grant. “It’ll only be a minute.” She turned and walked through to the kitchen, her posture tense.

“How do you do it?” Kara whispered angrily, still trying to burn a hole in the table top.

“Do what?” Grant replied, leaning forward with a pinched expression.

“Forgive someone for thinking the worst of you.” She heard the slow intakes of breath from both of her companions, and knew she’d probably taken it too far, but refused to show it.

“It’s a bit hypocritical, isn’t it? You expect me to be okay with you treating Skye like she can’t see her wrongs herself.” He said in a low voice, pulling back at the end as Shelly approached with their drinks. “Thank you.” He smiled at her again, but she nodded stiffly this time, her attention mainly on Skye.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her brow furrowed with concern. She seemed to be making a conscious effort to not look at Grant. Skye looked at her, momentarily confused, then she realised that her eyes would still be red-rimmed. Even Kara glanced up at the waitress’ words, her own eyes tightening with guilt at the evidence of her spite.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Skye laughed good-naturedly. “Just remembered something, that’s all.”

“Okay.” The woman nodded with a small smile. “Would you like to order now?” she asked the group.

“If we could have a few minutes.” Grant suggested. Shelly nodded again and left them. “We have to go. Drink up.” He said in the same low tone as before.

“What?” Kara and Skye said at the same time, glancing at each other. “Why?”

“Because she’s gone to call the authorities, that’s why.” He drained his glass in one go, and carefully set it back on the coaster. “She didn’t believe you, Skye, and since Kara’s angry and I’m the one speaking for us, she thinks that I’m abusive.” He hurriedly explained. “Now come on before S.H.I.E.L.D. turns up.”

Alarmed, the girls gulped down the water in their own glasses and slid out of the booth as Grant pulled out several notes to cover the cost of the water and tips. He hurried past the pair of them, taking hold of their hands and pulling them towards the exit.


	55. How It All Started...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a flashback to when and why Simmons made the chemical mixture that very nearly ended Skye's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This flashback will carry on into the next chapter.

Jemma Simmons felt like today was both the best and worst day of her life so far. Both results from exactly the same source.

At first, she had been excited at the prospect of a gifted individual working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Not to mention that said individual was one of her closet friends, and was like a sister to her. Then the facts kept stacking up, and she couldn’t ignore them.

Trip died because of Skye.

The entire population of The Playground nearly died because Skye couldn’t control her powers. In an extension, she couldn’t control herself. And that made her dangerous.

Agent Simmons didn’t like dangerous.

She didn’t like aliens. Asgardians she could tolerate, but others like the Kree and Jotuns were deadly, and completely unsafe to be around.

Skye was alien; or at least the result of alien experiments. And she thought human experiments were bad enough.

Luckily, she was probably one of the last left of her kind. Another being Raina, of course, but Jemma didn’t care about her.

So she tried to save Skye.

She created a serum based on how certain chemicals reacted with the extra macromolecules in Skye’s new blood. Thankfully, her friend didn’t need to find out until the serum was ready. All the wonderful technology she had could replicate biochemical reactions down to each individual molecule.

Fitz didn’t like it.

“It’s possible that you won’t get the serum to work the way you want it to.” He said, _again_ , as she went through another scenario.

“It’s science, Fitz.” She replied with as much false cheer as she could muster. “Nothing’s impossible.”

“ _How_ are you going to make it so that it will only affect the macromolecules?” he asked stubbornly. “You’re going to inject it into her bloodstream–”

“Exactly, Fitz.” She cut him off, frustrated. “It will spread throughout her body with one injection.”

“But her entire DNA has changed!”

 _God, did he have to be so insistent about this!_ She rolled her eyes to the heavens and wished that he would see her point of view.

He continued. “Every cell in her body is different to what it was before, and there’s no way you can reverse it!”

His ramblings were eventually tuned out.

She was ready to fix Skye. To make her normal again, and safe.

But Skye didn’t want it. Jemma was impressed with the guards’ capabilities to hold on to a being that could throw them into a wall with the force of an avalanche, and quickly, she administered the cure.

It worked right away – the tremors that ran through the base settled even as Skye writhed around in agony on the table. She screamed, the pitch reaching high enough to shatter glass beakers around the room. Jemma’s triumphant smile dropped. This is not what she expected.


	56. Fitz's Move

_FLASHBACK_

            As Skye wriggled her way out of the restraints holding her to the table, Fitz rushed over to Jemma.

“I _told_ you!” he shouted, trying to be heard above the god-awful screeching. “You’re attacking the macromolecules, you’re attacking her!”

“You did _not_ tell me that!” she yelled back, indignant.

“I _did_ , you just weren’t listening!”

“Stop talking and fix this!” Coulson bellowed, his voice still barely heard over Skye’s.

“We’re _trying!_ ” they both hollered back, barely glancing up from their screens.

A thump behind them caused all three to whip around at the sound, only to see Skye free of the restraints and writhing around on the floor. She was still screaming.

“What about a sedative?!” Coulson suggested, turning back to the scientists. Fitz glared at Jemma, and she shook her head sheepishly.

“For the formula to work, I had to structure the molecules to reject any kind of organic substance that wasn’t part of it.” She explained.

“So you knew this, and still went through with giving it to her?!” He looked horrified. Running a hand through what was left of his hair, he started pacing anxiously. “How long do the effects last?” he asked suddenly. Jemma gaped soundlessly, not having an answer ready. “How long?!”

“I don’t know!” she shouted back. “However long it takes for her DNA to revert back to normal!”

“This _is_ her normal!” Fitz piped up, clearly furious with Jemma. He was still glaring at her. “And now you’ve added pain to it! Every cell in her body is rewritten, and when it heals, it’ll still be the same!”

“But–”

“We need to get her out of here, sir.” Fitz turned back to Coulson, ignoring Jemma’s spluttering reply.

“And move her where?” Coulson raised an eyebrow.

“The safe house nearby. I’ll stay with her, and I can take Mack with me as well.” His gaze bored into Coulson’s, intense with his intent. “Just give her some breathing space from all this.” He gestured around the room with one hand.

Coulson appraised him for several moments, inclined to keep Skye as close as possible until he knew she was okay. Skye, at that moment, let out such a bloodcurdling shriek, the glass in the quarantine walls cracked. Coulson winced, and agreed with a nod.

“Thank you.” He saw Fitz’s mouth move in gratitude, then the scientist moved away to direct the preparations.

Skye was still a mess on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Skye won't remember this part, so there's still issues around her view of S.H.I.E.L.D. But it's not the ultimate evil corporation it initially looked like in this fic.


	57. Horrors of the Recent Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I had difficulty deciding which way the chapter should go.

Kara had tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to contain a writhing Skye in the back seat, the sleeping girl sobbing and screaming. Grant kept driving, but his constant glances at the rear view mirror nearly caused them to crash a couple of times.

“Skye! Skye, please wake up!” Kara begged.

“Slap her!” Grant called out, but his voice was overshadowed by Skye finally making coherent sounds.

“No, please! Just let me die!” she begged. Kara looked helplessly at Grant, at a complete loss as to what to do as she struggled to keep Skye from thrashing her limbs into everything within reach.

“Screw this.” Grant hissed, yanking on the wheel to pull the car off the road. He got out of the front seat, opened the back door and lifted Skye out. “Skye!” he called out to her, holding her tightly around her waist as he left her feet drop to the ground. “Skye, wake up! You’re not with S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Skye finally opened her eyes, jerking around in Grant’s grasp. She was still breathing heavily, and tears were still pouring down her cheeks, but she was awake and calming down.

“Hey.” Grant said softly, lightly placing his free hand on the side of her head. “Hey, you with me now? You’re gonna be okay.”

“Okay.” She whispered, her eyes still haunted. Her hand went to her stomach. “I’m not bleeding…”

“No, you’re not.” He agreed, checking her over anyway. A glance at Kara showed him the woman was still sitting in the back seat of the sedan, looking lost.

 _She gonna be okay to go soon?_ She mouthed at him. He raised his eyebrows and gave a small tilt of his head. _Not sure._ It said.

“Skye?” he asked again. “You’re gonna be fine. Look at me.” Gently, he put his hand under her chin and tilted her head to look at him. “You’re going to be fine. They’re never going to get you again. I promise.”

Slowly, she nodded. “I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He replied in the same volume. “Whatever you went through, it is _not_ your fault.”

She didn’t answer, just closed her eyes and reached up for a kiss. Grant returned it, relieved that he’d brought her back from her memories of torture.


	58. I'm Not Babying You

Skye remained alert until Grant pulled up in front of a Bed & Breakfast hotel at half past seven that evening. Her fear of reliving the absolute betrayal of everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. kept her from nodding off, and the bags under her eyes grew in size as the day wore on. Not even promises and encouragement from both Kara and Grant could get her to rest. She insisted she was fine, muttering about how they were behaving like mother hens.

As Skye got out of the sedan, refusing help from either one of them, Grant decided enough was enough.

“Kara, here,” he started, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and handing it to her. “Get a room for us, I’ll take her up.”

“Okay.” She nodded, casting one last worried glance at Skye before making her way inside.

“Grant, really, I’m _fine_!” Skye snapped at him once Kara was out of earshot. She glared at him stubbornly. “You don’t need to baby me!”

“I’m not babying you, Skye.” he replied in a tart tone, stepping forward and crowding her against the car. “ _You’re_ the one who’s refusing to allow us to help you. And for what? You want to face what they did to you on your own?”

She remained silent, angry tears leaking out of her eyes.

“Skye.” he said, exasperated.

“I don’t want to think about it.” She muttered, casting her gaze at the ground.

“So think about something else.” Grant shrugged, trying to make eye contact. “But for God’s sake, don’t push us away.” When she didn’t answer, he huffed in tired annoyance and pulled her chin up. “Skye–”

“Can we drop it?” she snapped, looking directly at him with her jaw set in a clench.

“That’d be great. But you need to stop trying to bite our heads off.”

She sighed and dropped her head to rest it on his chest. Automatically, Grant brought his arms up and wrapped them around her torso, dropping his own head to rest it on hers.

“I’m sorry.” She mumbled, her face pressed into his chest, making it difficult to understand her words.

“Sorry, what was that?” Grant teased, gently tickling her sides as he peppered kisses on the side of her face. Skye shrieked a little and giggled, pushing her face into Grant’s neck. Laughing with her, he rocked from side to side, steadily gaining distance from the car. “You okay now?” he asked, adopting a casual tone.

“Yeah.” She breathed out, giggles fading. “Better, anyway.”

“Yeah, you need to rest.” He replied. Then on an impulse, swept her feet from under her and carried her towards the hotel entrance. She shrieked louder this time, laughing loudly while Grant grinned mischievously, a hint of a smirk in his expression.


	59. The Third Wheel

Grant’s voice could be heard long before he entered the building, a giggling Skye in his arms. Turning back to the employee at the register, Kara shook her head with half-amusement, too tired to be much more than relieved that Skye seemed to be okay. The man behind the desk smirked as he saw the couple cross the threshold, raising an eyebrow at Kara.

“They yours?” he asked, laughter underlining his tone as he handed over the key to their room.

“Yup.” She sighed. “Cliché third wheel over here.”

He laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle. “Good luck.” He offered.

“Thanks.” She replied appreciatively before turning around to face her two ridiculous best friends. “Hey! Could, you know, tone down the volume just a teensy tiny bit?” Raising her hand, she held out her thumb and forefinger with the gap between them less than half of a centimetre.

Both of them looked at her, the laughter quietening immediately, but the amusement remained on their faces. Grant pursed his lips as he put Skye back down on the ground, and Skye got away with a smile as she struggled to exercise restraint.

“We really need to add more people to our gang.” Kara muttered as she walked away.

“Why? We’re fine as we are.” Skye hurried to catch up.

“No, _you’re_ fine as we are.” Kara turned around suddenly, causing Skye to walk into her. “You and Grant are together, and that’s great, but it _sucks_ to be the third wheel.” She sighed, watching Grant slowly walk up behind Skye. “I step away so you too can have your moments, try to ignore the fact that a lot of the time, you two pretend that I’m not even in the same room; let alone a moving car.” Skye opened her mouth to say something, but Kara waved her down. “It’s mushy, and it sucks that I don’t have that. That’s all.”

Kara turned around and started heading down the hallway, hearing the couple move after her.


	60. We Can't Be The Only Ones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey, 60 chapters! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last 59 :)

“Kara, don’t say that that’s all it is.” Grant said as soon as he closed the door behind them. Kara mostly ignored what he said, dumping her bag onto her bed and heading for the bathroom. Grant sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as Skye frowned at the beds.

“She got us three singles.” She said, sounding hurt at the thought.

“So sleep in the middle.” Kara called from the bathroom. Grant glanced over in that general direction and wandered over to Skye, wrapping his arms around her.

“You think she’s giving us a hint?” he whispered. Skye grunted, the sound turning into a groan of complaint as she dropped her head to rest it on Grant’s shoulder. “Perhaps she’s right.”

“About what?” Skye turned to face him, alarmed.

“Whenever we need a moment to ourselves, she ends up being on her own. I just think that maybe we should think about including more people.”

“Like who? I can’t _trust_ anyone else!”

Grant ran his hands up and down Skye’s back, attempting to sooth her. “We can’t be the only ones who S.H.I.E.L.D. have wronged, not including Hydra.”

“Maybe…”

“Just consider it.” He suggested, then pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “And if the opportunity arises where we could help someone else not be so alone, don’t be so against it, okay?”

She just huffed, pulling a small chuckle out of him.


	61. Morning Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I had a uni assignment to complete.

Skye, unsurprisingly, woke up several times throughout the night, shaking off her nightmares and missing the comfort of Grant’s embrace. Each time she attempted to deal with her problem on her own, and each time she woke, it was easier to calm herself down. When she woke for the last time at 5:37am, she noticed Grant was already awake, and sitting on the edge of her bed.

“Hey.” He murmured, clearly trying to not wake Kara up. “You okay?”

Sighing lightly, she nodded. “Working on it.” At his raised eyebrow, she shrugged. “I figured that as a competent adult, I should be able to handle my bad dreams on my own. I could before.”

Grant pursed his lips, a little put out that she hadn’t approached him for help. “You were a little distressed.”

“That was only the most recent one.” She replied and sat up, curling her arms around her legs.

“How many have you had?” he asked, alarmed.

“This…would be the fifth time since we went to bed last night.”

Grant sighed, annoyed. “Skye, I was right next to you.”

“And that helped!” she insisted. “But they’re just bad dreams, okay? I know they’re not real.” She reached out to cup his cheek in her left hand. “Besides, you needed to sleep.”

He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes and nodded briefly. “You’re okay now?”

“Yeah.” She murmured. Grant opened his eyes and leaned forward, kissing her softly.

“Good. I’ll get breakfast.” Smiling, he stood and moved to his bag, pulling out jeans and a shirt.

“I’ve been thinking…” Skye started, glancing at Kara and shifting further down her bed. Grant looked up, curious. “With all that’s been going on, I thought that perhaps a good way to get my thoughts in order and figure out what’s really happening to us versus what I just think up in my head is to start a personal diary.”

He nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. You want me to get you a lined book and pen?”

“Yes, please.” She beamed at him.

“Okay.” Grant grabbed a fresh pair of underwear and headed to the bathroom. “I’ll go soon.” As he closed the bathroom door behind him, Skye lay back down and stretched out. She focused her gaze on the beam on sunlight that was peeking through the curtains, illuminating the room.

Grant was back out within ten minutes, only just missing Kara wake. “You can stay in bed for another few minutes.” He said to her as he pulled on his socks and shoes. “I’ll get breakfast.”

“Good.” Kara mumbled into her pillow, pulling laughter from the others in the room. Yawning, she rolled over and snuggled into her covers.

“And I’ll wash.” Skye announced, shimmying off the bed and picking up her bag. “Don’t take too long.” She threw over her shoulder at Grant as she walked to the bathroom.

“Likewise.” Kara called out. Grant laughed as he strode to the door.

“Took the words right out of my mouth, Kara.” He said, closing the door softly behind him.


	62. Challenge Accepted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took ages!

Grant strode down the hall, his wallet bulging in the back pocket of his jeans. He felt unusually light, a slight spring in his step and a smile on his face helping him feel relaxed and content. He knew that these moments would be rare while they were on their journey, so he took them whole-heartedly when they appeared.

A healthy breakfast, as it turned out, was only available in the dining room, and nothing that wasn’t in a re-sealable or pre-sealed package was allowed in any of the rooms. Sighing, and purchasing two small chip packets for the girls, he headed back.

Skye was still in the shower, Kara grumbling as she gathered her clothes. She looked up as he entered and frowned, looking at his hands.

“I don’t think that’s gonna be enough for breakfast, Grant.” She pointed out, speaking slower than usual as though he had suddenly become dim-witted. “And there’s three of us to feed…”

“All the healthy, decent breakfasts have to be eaten in the dining room.” He replied, chucking the chip packets onto the nearest bed. “You and Skye can have one each.”

“Oh.” Kara frowned at the foil bag, then shook her head quickly and looked back up at her friend. “Well, could you get Skye out of there? I feel gross.”

Grant chuckled. “Will do.” he said, striding over to the bathroom and entering without knocking.

“I’ll be out in a minute, Kara!” Skye blurted out as soon as the door hit the wall. Her back was turned to him, and while she was unaware it was him, he admired the shape of her body that could be distinguished through the steam on the shower glass.

“Not Kara, though she is insisting.” He leaned back against the frame of the doorway and watched, amused, as Skye jumped and spun around.

“Grant?” she asked, opening the shower door wide enough to poke her head around. Spotting him, she frowned. “I thought you were getting breakfast.” Then her face lit up. “Are we getting room service?”

“No, all decent breakfast options have to be eaten in the dining room.” He moved forward, Skye closing the door a little more as she straightened. “So hurry up, okay? Kara’s getting antsy.” Smiling, he gave her a kiss when she rolled her eyes and nodded.

The shower shut off almost immediately, and as he left the bathroom Kara rushed past him, a thank you making its way over her shoulder.

“Jeez, hasty, much?” he heard Skye grumble, causing him to laugh softly. “And I heard that, Grant!” she called out. He turned to face her as she left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body, an innocent expression on his face.

“Heard what?” he asked sweetly. His hands moved to clasp behind his back as she walked right up to him and grabbed the back of his neck to pull him in for a kiss. He raised his hands to grasp her body, expecting to feel the rough fabric of her towel. What he felt instead was the smooth, soft skin that covered her back and sides. With a deep throated moan, he realised that she’d dropped her towel as soon as he’d closed his eyes, and felt his desire spreading rapidly through his veins. His hands start pulling her closer, but she breaks the kiss at the same time as she pulls his arms away from her body.

Swallowing the whine that leapt up his throat at the sudden lack of contact, Grant opened his eyes to see Skye smirking at him with a mischievous glint in hers. “I just showered.” She said, moving away completely. “And Kara will hear.”

He was about to say that it didn’t matter that Kara would hear when Skye walked around him, giving him a wide enough berth so he couldn’t reel her back in. he turned around and watched, aroused, as she pulled on panties, a bra, jeans, and a low cut top.

“You tease.” He pouted, hoping to get something in before Kara came back, making any act of intimacy completely indecent.

Skye shrugged. “I could just wear a shirt that goes up to my neck.” She glanced up at him through her eyelashes, a devilish smile on her face.

 _Two can play at that game._ A dark glint entering Grant’s eye, he allowed the corner of his lips to twitch upwards as he all but lunged towards her, pushing her onto her back on the bed. “Or I could just rip it off.” He whispered huskily into her ear, his lips brushing her cheek and earlobe. Giving her one last smouldering look, Grant pushed himself off of her and walked over to his bed, where the chip packets were, and tossed one to Skye. He allowed himself a glance back, feeling proud to see a breathless and slightly shaking woman. The look in her eyes when she peeked up at him revealed a swirling mix of lust and mischief.

Challenge accepted.


	63. Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, nearly a month...Sorry!

Kara felt…icky. It wasn’t because the shower was briefer than she’d have liked, and it wasn’t even the state of the dining room, which left something to be desired. It was her blockhead friends.

Both Skye and Grant were playing some sort of game. First, she’d felt the table wobble when Skye bumped the underside with her knee as she drew a line up Grant’s leg with her foot.

Second, Grant had responded with a narrow-eyed look, and stole a strip of bacon off of Skye’s plate. He deliberately kept eye contact with her as he ate it. Honestly, Kara would have thought that Skye’d have more of an outraged expression and more than one thing to say about it, but she just smirked.

Kara rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Look, I know that there aren’t many people in here, but I’m sitting right next to you, completely grossed out by what you’re doing.” Both of them flicked their gazes to her, and back to each other. Simultaneously, they straightened up in their seats, Skye sliding her feet under her chair. “Thank you.” Kara said, still the only one who had spoken a word throughout breakfast.

It wasn’t even two minutes later when she saw Skye sneaking a foot back out towards Grant, and she’d had enough. She let out a loud scoff and stood, grabbing her plate and orange juice before marching over to the other side of the dining hall. Placing them in front of a seat, she pulled the chair in question out and sat in it, having been careful to select a view that was not of the other two. She could hear Skye’s faint giggling, and decided she didn’t really want to know what was going on.

She finished her breakfast in relative peace, the noise in the room eventually rising as a few more of the hotel’s guests arrived for theirs. Standing up and preparing to head back to the room she paid for, she noticed that neither Grant nor Skye were at their seats. Skye’s plate still had food left on it, but was being cleared away along with Grant’s by the tired-looking waitress. Kara groaned quietly to herself; they’d snuck off to have sex. Probably, anyway.

The man in question’s name appeared on her phone’s screen as it buzzed in her pocket, indicating that a text had come through.

_Grant: Sorry about breakfast. But you might want to find Skye that journal she wanted._

“Huh!” she gave a half-laugh, half-scoff, unsurprised. “Of course I would.” Continuing to grumble to herself about them, she marched out of the dining room and out the front door.


End file.
